amantium irae
by alternativesuggestion
Summary: Your ex-wife has returned. Sasuke wished he'd never heard those five nerve-racking words. He had given her everything, yet Sakura had brought him to his knees. Now she's back and everyone is out to get her. But her head will end up on Sasuke's plate.
1. Praefatio

**Praefatio –** _ **Your ex-wife has returned.**_

"…are still stagnating, though we expect a raise once the start-up hits the stock market. Also, your alliance with the Yashida Clan has proven very lucrative. Ever since they signed the docks over to you, the numbers have skyrocketed and we expect…"

The soft sound of doors opening and steps approaching him could be heard. A hand suddenly found its way onto his right shoulder and interrupted his barely present concentration. As the CFO was still rambling on about the outcome of the last fiscal year, the new arrival whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened ever so subtly, a brow raised in suspicion. With a jerk of his hand he silenced his financial advisers and stood up. "Gentlemen, I'm afraid we must postpone this. I have urgent business to attend to. If you'll excuse me." As he buttoned up his suit jacket and made his way to the door of the conference room, his advisers all stood and bowed in respect. "Hai, Uchiha-sama."

Although he hated meetings of this kind, after hearing the news he would have given anything to stay in that conference room. He would have given anything to not hear those five nerve-racking words.

 _Your ex-wife has returned._

As Sasuke Uchiha made his way through the large compound to his office, images of pink and green flashed into his head. Soft touches, tender kisses, and an endearing laugh. The image of that last smile she gave him seconds before she betrayed him forever burnt in his memory. The golden doors to his office were swung open by his security detail and he was met with the concerned and almost frightened faces of his most trusted advisers. "You need to see this, Sasuke.", his oldest counselor said in a calm voice, pointing to his desk. The suspense was almost palpable. Everyone looked at their boss expectantly, searching for clues in his ever so guarded and aloof demeanour. Nothing gave him away. No sweat, no hands shaking, nothing.

But Kakashi knew. This woman wrought havoc on his life and left him cold and dead inside. Kakashi knew, despite his outward appearance, Sasuke was shaken to the core at this moment. He walked around the desk and took a seat in his chair. He could feel the intense gaze of everyone in his office, practically glaring holes into him. One look at his desk, and his heart skipped a beat. Sasuke would have given anything to never see that beast of an ex-wife ever again. Yet, here he was, looking at photos of Haruno Sakura stepping out of her private jet and setting foot on Japanese soil for the first time in 3 years.

 _Fuck his life._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** My first story ever. This idea has been brewing in my mind for weeks now, and I finally decided to write it down. I hope you guys like it. Also, I'm not a native speaker, so if you spot any mistakes, do let me know.


	2. Capitulum I

**Capitulum I** _ **– Might as well look sexy if I'm possibly about to die.**_

Life is a bitch. Not just karma, she mused. Everything. Every aspect of life is out to get you, whether it be the circumstances of your birth, the education you received, or the people you affiliate yourself with. No matter how safe and sound you believe yourself to be, life will fuck you up, one way or another. Just like it did with her.

Looking out of the window of the car as the towering skyscrapers of Tokyo flew past her, she traced invisible patterns on her left lower arm. She never thought she would find herself in this place ever again. She did incur the wrath of Japan's most dangerous mob boss after all, the last time she was here.

He will be out for blood, that's for sure. Her blood, to be precise. She must tread carefully during this mission.

She was torn from her thoughts when her driver announced they were approaching the Plaza Hotel. "I'll have the bags brought by the staff, you go up and get settled in. I still have to check up on the security in this place." As the man in the driver's seat stopped the engine, she grabbed her bag and sunglasses. "Don't make a huge fuss out of this, Kai. If he wanted me dead on the spot he would have shot me at the airport. The very fact I'm still standing here means he probably wants to know what brought me here first. So I should be quite alright for a while." The doors were opened and Kai offered his right hand to help her out of the car. As her high heels touched the ground and she straightened herself, she felt dizzy all of a sudden. Not because of the imposing building in front of her. She was out in the open now. Although she might have sounded convincing to her confidante, she wasn't so sure about the state of her safety herself. He knew everything, and even though she's only been in Tokyo for an hour, he knew of her presence, she was sure of it.

She calculated how many steps it would take from the car to the entrance of the hotel. 10, maybe 15. That's a time span of a few seconds. She might just get killed in those next few seconds. "Sakura." Her head jerked up and her eyes met Kai's. Putting on her sunglasses and strutting over to the entrance as if she owned the place, she thought, might as well look sexy if I'm possibly about to die.

As she stepped foot into the grand reception hall of the hotel, she released a breath she didn't know she held in. "Miss Haruno, it's a pleasure to have you as our guest again. My name is Hanzo Satoshi, I'm the hotel director of the Plaza and I will make sure that everything is to your liking during your stay here with us. Now, if you would…" – "Keycard, please." Sakura demanded, stretching out her hand. The hotel director looked baffled for a second, but after getting ahold of himself, he nervously answered "Ah yes, at once Miss Haruno, but there is the matter of a few papers in need of your signature before-"

"Mr. Satoshi, my flight was exhausting, they didn't have any vodka at the airport lounge, my feet hurt like hell, and on top of that, I have a bad hair day. You can see the predicament I am in now, can't you? What I want is a nice hot bubble bath, what I do not want, however, is your ugly face telling me what to do. Now, you are going to give me the keycard and send up the paperwork later, or I swear to God, I will make sure your permanent residence will be moved from the Plaza Hotel to the graveyard. Am I understood?" With the sweetest of smiles she expectantly looked at the hotel director with her hand still stretched out.

"Now, let's try this again, shall we? Keycard." After she felt the plastic object hit her bare skin, she gave the hotel director another smile before turning and making her way through the reception hall crowd. This wasn't such a bad start, after all, she mused.

 _I mean I could have gotten bullet between my eyes._


	3. Capitulum II

**Capitulum II** _ **– Bring her to me alive.**_

Eyes shut, yet he could still see her everywhere.

It's been a week since she's returned to Japan and his life was utter chaos. And he _fucking_ _hated_ chaos. He's been getting calls from his business partners and other clan heads day and night. Understandably so, they were all furious at her return. After the stunt she had pulled three years ago, they banned her from ever stepping foot on Japanese soil again. Some of them did, in fact, believe she was dead, that's how good she was at hiding.

Until now.

He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out the reason for her reappearance. She knew she wasn't welcome here; she knew she didn't have any friends or people that would help her. She was like a lamb, presenting herself on a silver platter, waiting to be slaughtered. Yet nothing happened. There must be a reason for such a reckless behavior, he thought to himself. _Or maybe she's just suicidal._ He dismissed that thought as soon as it popped into his head. Sakura was many things, a temptress, a deceiver. A liar. But she was not suicidal. She must be on some sort of mission.

He opened his eyes and looked at the video footage on his computer screen. Images of her stepping out of the car in front of the Plaza Hotel, having meetings with unknown people, lurking in the shadows during shady business transactions in abandoned warehouses. And then the latest footage: her stealing a suitcase from a container on _his_ docks last night.

He was having her surveilled 24/7 ever since her arrival. He wanted to know everything she did, every step she took, every hand she shook, and every life she took. He was hoping to figure out her motives by watching her, before he decided on any action, but so far nothing came up. There was no clear pattern in her actions, they seemed random. However, one thing tied all of them together: Sasuke was always involved in some way. The people she had met worked for him and the places she had gone to belonged to him. It almost seemed as if she was trying to get his attention by interacting with his employees and being on his property. And another thing all of these scenes had in common, apart from the presence of his treacherous ex-wife, was that bodyguard of hers, trailing her everywhere. Kai was his name, or at least it seemed to be. There wasn't much his people could find on him, not even a surname. What they had found out, however, was that he was ex-military. Figures, Sasuke thought. Bulky, muscly, always carrying around an arsenal of weapons with him, including two katanas on his back and shooting people in the head that came too close to Sakura.

Except for Sasori, Sakura shot him herself. He rewound the footage of the robbery on the docks again and watched it closely. After her henchmen had gotten the upper hand in a short gunfight against Sasori's gang, Kai executed all of them, save one. Sasori was beaten to a pulp and thrown at Sakura's feet. She appeared to be talking to him, probably asking about the location of the suitcase. He looked visibly angry and spat blood on her shoes. Sakura looked disgusted for a moment, before kneeling down to him and whispering something in his ear. Sasori's expression turned from pissed to afraid in a matter of seconds. Sasuke knew this was the moment she had broken him. He saw her do it a couple of times during their marriage. He never figured out what exactly she tells people in these situations, all he knew was that she was almost frighteningly persuasive. Sasori looked defeated and opened his mouth. After Sakura seemed to have gotten what she wanted, she shot him in the head. She signaled her henchmen to open one of the containers, grabbed the suitcase and left the docks. But not before looking up at the cameras with a cocky grin, as if knowing Sasuke would be watching this merely 30 minutes later.

"Fucking bitch", Sasuke muttered under his breath. He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back with a groan. He looked around his office. His gaze rested on the black and red samurai armour encased in glass on the left wall. It had belonged to one of his ancestors and served to remind him of the principles he shared with the elite warriors: discipline, restraint, and sacrifice. Oh, the things he had sacrificed for Sakura. He had given her everything, and she had brought him to his knees.

A knock on the door interrupted his trip down memory lane and his white-haired adviser appeared. "Sasuke, the other heads are breathing down my neck. They gave you a week to monitor her, but the time's up and they want you to take action now." Kakashi looked at his former student patiently. He couldn't imagine how hard this must be for him. The thought of Sasuke's ex-wife was unsettling on the best of days, when she was far away and could do no harm, let alone when she was in the same city, turning Tokyo's criminal underworld upside down. Sasuke pondered for a moment, still looking at the samurai armour with the Uchiha crest embedded in it.

"Send Juugo. Bring her to me alive." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kakashi's bowed head and his retreating figure. He closed his eyes again and let out a sigh.

 _I will bring you to your knees, Sakura._


	4. Capitulum III

**Capitulum III –** _ **I can't be near him.**_

"Sakura Haruno, 31 years old, 179 cm tall, 65 kg, characteristic feature: pink hair. Sakura Haruno, 31 years old, 179 cm tall, 65 kg, characteristic feature: pink hair. Sakura Haruno, 31 years old, …"

Juugo was reciting the personal data from the file he was given on his next target, while dismantling and reassembling his gun over and over again. It was a sort of ritual for him; it helped him not to lose his nerves. Although he had worked as a hitman for years now, infamous for his calm and stealthy approach, he still had uncontrollable outbursts of aggression from time to time. Rituals like these, repeating things to himself, gave him a sense of much needed stability. After all, this is an immensely important mission. _Get your shit together, Juugo. And don't fuck this up_.

He heard the sudden noise of the keycard beeping and positioned himself behind the door leading into the bedroom. The lights in the foyer of the suite were turned on and he could hear heels clicking on the wooden floor. Ever so slowly, careful not to be seen, he turned his head around the corner and watched his target's movement. Seems like she's unarmed, he deduced. She looks so frail and weak, although Sasuke warned me not to underestimate her. Apparently she could take down a guy of my size and weight with one punch. Juugo looked at his gun and decided to opt for stealth rather than open confrontation. He tucked the gun back in its holster and instead pulled a syringe out of his pocket.

With small, delicate steps he approached his target from behind. Just as he was about to dose her with the sedative, Sakura swung around and nicked his cheek with a knife. "Don't think I didn't see you behind the corner. You're not as quiet as you think you are." Triumphantly she looked at the intruder and played with the knife in her fingers, menacingly advancing towards the orange haired man. He didn't seem fased at all, though. "Didn't he warn you about me? About the things… I will… What did you…" She traced her shoulder with her fingers and looked down to find a syringe stuck inside it. "Bastard." With a thump her body hit the floor. Juugo picked up the woman and headed for the exit. "Now to get you to Sasuke-sama."

* * *

When she woke up again, she felt groggy, nauseous, and ready to kill someone. She opened her eyes and looked around the room she found herself in. Definitely not a hospital, but equipped like one. High-tech computers and monitors all around, displaying her vitals and heartbeat. She heard the sound of doors opening and saw a beautiful redhead and two nurses enter the room. "Miss Haruno, I see you're awake now. These are Yuki and Moegi, they are trained nurses from one of the best hospitals in Tokyo. They will take care of you until you feel better again. So don't worry, you're in safe hands now."

Sakura suspiciously eyed the young woman in front of her. Looks to be around my age, she thought. Whoever she works for, she must be some sort of messenger. Or secretary maybe, with her glasses she looks like she came just out of a porn movie. Scratching her left lower arm, she asked, "And who might you be?" - "My name is Uzumaki Karin. I work for Uchiha Sasuke, whose compound you are currently at, in case you were wondering."

That was when panic hit her. _I can't be here. I can't be near him._

She nervously clenched her left arm and faced the nurses. "Would you mind leaving Miss Uzumaki and I alone for a moment? There is something I must discuss with her in private." Yuki and Moegi expectantly looked at Karin, who nodded and beckoned them to leave the room. "I believe the person you really want to talk to is Sasuke-san, but seeing as to how he is indisposed at the moment, I will gladly take a message." With cold eyes and an arched brow, she looked at Sakura. This must be good, she thought to herself, Uchiha Sasuke's ex-wife in the flesh. Whatever she will say now, it will be golden, I bet.

"Do you mind getting me a glass of water first, please? I'm terribly thirsty." Sakura tried her best to give the impression of the tired and vulnerable patient. Karin went to the sink and filled a glass with water. The bed Sakura was lying in was low, so she had to bend down a bit to give Sakura the glass. As soon as her fingers grasped the object, she reached back and smashed the glass against the young woman's head. All Karin could hear was a distant _I'm really sorry_ _for this_ before everything went black.

* * *

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Sakura was overwhelmed when she opened the door of the patient's room and saw the vastness of Sasuke's estate. Surrounded by buildings, gardens, towers, and worst of all, guards, his home resembled a fortress. Even if you managed to get in from the outside, you sure as hell won't find your way out again, it seemed. Lucky for her, it was already dark and she was really good at sneaking around undetected.

She looked at her left arm and hoped she wouldn't see lights flashing. When her eyes were met with merely her skin colour, she let out a sigh. _It seems he isn't so close after all._

She scanned her surroundings and decided to make her way to the garage. Given the late hour of the night, the security detail was on high alert and scattered all over the compound. They were armed with Kevlar vests, guns and knives, and some even with night vision goggles. But only those on the vantage points, she realised, the men patrolling the ground don't have these goggles, because most places are lit and visible anyway. She heard steps approaching her from the right and crouched down behind the corner. As soon as the guard walked past her, she jumped up and circled her right arm around his neck, while placing her left hand over his mouth and nose to muffle his groans. She tightened her hold on him, nearly cutting off his oxygen completely until she felt him go limp in her arms. Years of hard training have proven useful once more, as she laid the unconscious body of the man on the floor. She grabbed his knife and tiptoed along the side of the building towards what seemed to be the gateway.

You don't drive your car all the way to the back of your estate, so the garage must be somewhere in this entry area, Sakura thought as she searched for an escape route. She spotted two men guarding a building with garage doors and crept towards them through the shadows of the night. I must separate them somehow, she decided while playing with the knife in her hands. Can't take on both without one of them screaming for back-up.

As she formed a final escape plan in her head, she readied herself for one more attack. She threw the knife around the corner next to the garage and hoped her idea would work. The knife gave off a loud clang when its metal hit the concrete floor and the two guards suddenly sprang to attention. As Sakura watched one of them turn around and walk around the corner, she sprinted towards the other, took his gun from his hands with one fell swoop and used it to knock him out. She carefully lowered the man and the gun to the floor and snuck towards the second guard. Just as he turned around and spotted her, she jumped up and, with five quick punches to his torso, blocked his chi. Unable to move any longer, Sakura knocked him out with one final strike and watched him tumble to the ground.

Alright, now to check if I'm still at a safe distance and then I'm out of here, she thought to herself, glancing one last time at her left arm, before sneaking into the garage and breaking the window of the first car she could find. After fumbling with the cables underneath the steering wheel, the engine sprang to life. She could already hear the commotion of the guards outside and opted for a quick escape.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the grande finale _,_ Sakura thought with a smirk as she stepped on the gas pedal and burst through the garage doors, driving towards the gateway. The guards were in a frenzy, trying to stop the car by shooting at it. But Sakura knew how paranoid Sasuke was. _Bulletproof car, duh._ The massive gateway came closer and closer, and for a tiny moment, Sakura wasn't sure if she would make it. She put in the 6th gear and pressed down on the gas pedal, hearing the engine roar up. She closed her eyes and waited, until she felt the jolt of barging through the gate. "Yes! I'm out of here, bitches!", she screamed overjoyed and drove into Tokyo's night.

 _This is the first time she prayed to God in long time._


	5. Capitulum IV

**Capitulum IV –** _ **And Sasuke needed to know this before I die.**_

Time and time again she proved capable of surprising him. Even after 2 years of marriage he still didn't know her whole story. He knew she received similar training to his. He knew she was stronger than even some of his best men, but he didn't think she could actually escape from his compound. She attacked his personal assistant, knocked out three of his security guards, stole one of his favourite Jeeps, wrecked his garage and tore down his gateway – all while pumped full with sedatives.

"Not even Naruto would be able to do such damage.", he muttered while watching the security footage of her escape. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.", he heard Kakashi's answer behind him. "I wouldn't call that scorned, I would call that a natural catastrophe. Though I have to admit, it did surprise me to even hear of her escape. I thought she wanted to get close to me, but on the footage she seems hell bent on getting away from here." – "Yes, that made me wonder as well. Another intriguing thing I spotted was her constant looking at her left arm. I'm not quite sure what's up with that, but I will definitely look into it." Kakashi gathered the papers scattered on Sasuke's desk into his folder and was about to leave, when his boss' voice stopped him in his tracks.

"You won't be looking into anything. I will put a stop to this nonsense. Get me Juugo."

* * *

"You again."

Sakura was surprised to see her orange-haired kidnapper from a few days ago nonchalantly sitting in her living room. Although Kai went to great lengths to keep her safe, it seemed this one was sneaky enough to slip through his net twice. "Don't worry Miss Haruno, I'm not here to harm you. I came here with a message from Sasuke-sama and I will leave you be as soon as I've delivered it. So would you please be so kind as to sit down and listen to what I have to say."

Oddly enough, he seemed genuinely…honest to Sakura. Not like the rest of the sleazy and two-faced cockroaches she had to work with so often. This one seemed to be an exception to that bunch. Never mind, she thought, this might just be a good chance to finally deliver my warning to Sasuke.

She took a seat on the couch opposite him and clasped her hands together. "You seem like someone Sasuke would trust. And you are definitely devoted to him, I can see that. I will hear you out, on one condition: I have something very important to tell Sasuke, but I cannot tell it to him in person. So I need you to deliver _my_ message. Will you do that?" Sakura looked at him expectantly, she could see the hesitation in his eyes. He waited a few seconds until letting out a sigh. He leaned back and said, "Alright. What is it?" Suddenly, Sakura felt nervous. This was the moment she had worked towards for months now. She started fumbling with her fingers, but took a deep breath to calm herself down. She looked into Juugo's wondering eyes, and started talking.

"What I'm about to tell you will sound crazy, but it is the truth. There is a reason I came back to Tokyo, and none of you will like it. Six years ago, a man hired me to take out Sasuke. I couldn't go through with it back then, that's why I left him. I tried hiding from my contractor and it worked for two and a half years, but then he found me six months ago. He wanted me to finish what I started, but I refused. The next day, he had my brother killed. He threatened to kill all the relatives and friends I had left until I agreed to work for him again, so I did. He sent me back to Tokyo to kill Sasuke in a very…pompous way." Sakura had to swallow before continuing. This part of the story always made her shiver.

"He implanted a small bomb inside my left arm that would be triggered if Sasuke came any closer than 15 metres. I have no idea how exactly it works, but it's all super high-tech, it's so small you can't even see or feel it when you touch my arm and - "

"Wait, wait, wait, as if the story up until now isn't absurd enough, now you claim there is a bomb inside your left arm?! You don't actually suppose anyone will believe that, do you?", Juugo asked incredulously.

God damn it, Sakura thought. This was going to be harder than she expected. After all, the real reason for her betrayal three years ago and her return to Tokyo seemed so far-fetched that not even she grasped the absurdity of it all. _Screw that, he must know the truth. He probably already thinks I'm batshit crazy, so it's not like I have a reputation to uphold._

Clearing her throat, she continued her story: "When Sasuke was a baby he had a tiny tracking chip implanted in his right foot. All Uchihas did, because the clan head back then was paranoid and afraid someone would betray him, so he surveilled all of his subordinates. My contractor programmed the bomb to react to the presence of Sasuke's tracking chip. It would blow us both to pieces if he came close to me."

Juugo looked at Sakura with wide eyes, then turned his gaze to the window. Silence befell the two for a moment. "Assuming this is true, why are you telling me this? I'm guessing your contractor doesn't want his plan to be revealed."

"I'm telling you this because, just like three years ago, I don't want to kill Sasuke. That's why I fled the compound after you kidnapped me, I thought he was somewhere in the vicinity."

"Why go to such lengths to get Sasuke's attention, just to tell him that? You could have just tried to leave and hide again, you could have just stayed away from him." Juugo asked accusingly.

This is it, Sakura thought, the big revelation. Careful how you phrase it, because this information would make anyone look like the biggest nutcase ever.

"The reason I desperately wanted to tell him, is because… my contractor is Uchiha Madara. He's not dead as all of us believe him to be, he survived and has been pulling the strings from the shadows for a very long time now. And Sasuke needed to know this before I die." Sakura looked into Juugo's eyes with all the conviction she could muster. His reaction to this news might just determine her fate. Did he believe her? Is he even considering telling Sasuke this ludicrous story? Juugo looked down with eyes wide open. Silence. Nerve-splitting silence. Sakura waited.

When he looked back up again his eyes were cold and distant as he said, "Now that you've gotten that off your chest, there is nothing here in Tokyo for you anymore. Sasuke-sama wants you to leave the country for good this time, and you will. There is a plane leaving for Bolivia tomorrow night at 9 pm, you will board this plane and leave him behind forever."

He stood up and strut towards the door, when he heard her voice behind him. "Will you tell him? He must know, because Madara will come for him. He must be prepared." Juugo's hand rested on the door handle for a fleeting moment. "Goodbye, Miss Haruno."

As he closed the door behind him, he tapped a finger to his ear. "Did you get all of that, sir?" Crackling could be heard on the line, a sigh, then the answer, "Yes. What you just heard stays between us."

Sasuke took off his headphones and disconnected the line to Juugo's earpiece. He approached the bar, poured himself a double Scotch on rocks and, taking a sip, stepped out onto the terrace overlooking the beach underneath the cliffs. He took a deep breath and with a loud roar, he threw the glass into the night.

 _This woman will be my undoing._


	6. Capitulum V

**Capitulum V –** _ **My grim reaper has finally come for me.**_

Undoing her seatbelt, she stepped out of the cab and paid the driver, before turning and looking at the Tokyo airport. The song on the radio of the cab could still be heard, as it drove past her. _I'm like a bird, I always fly away, I don't know where my home is…_ Grimacing at the irony of the situation she found herself in, she thought, Oh Nelly Furtado, you have no idea.

Clutching the suitcase that was chained to her left wrist with a pair of handcuffs, she made her way through the buzzing crowd towards the lounge reserved for First Class passengers. As soon as she entered the room and heard the door close behind her, the lights went out.

"Sakura."

 _Oh fuck._ The dark voice stopped her dead in her tracks. _This can't be happening._ She could hear her breath quivering. She could feel her muscles tensing. Her heart pumping. "You've been quite a nuisance."

He switched on the light of the lamp right next to him. She didn't need to turn her head to see who was sitting in the leather chair, facing her. Oh God, please just let him be on the other end of the room, she prayed silently. She closed her eyes and tried to even her breath, when she heard his cold voice again.

"Look at me."

Sakura sighed in defeat and turned to face her ex-husband.

As he sat there in the dark, dressed all in black, with his left hand holding a glass of Scotch and his right one resting on an all too familiar baseball bat, he looked into her eyes with sheer revulsion. _My grim reaper has finally come_ _for me._

One look from his cold eyes and he sucked away all of the confidence she usually prided herself with. With the little courage she had left, she managed to say only his name, "Sasuke."

He tore his gaze from her and instead looked at the baseball bat he was swirling in his right hand. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear the last time we saw one another. You were to never set foot on my territory again, or else I would break each and every one of your bones and feed you to Kakashi's dogs. Yet here you are, in my territory, alive and well. And with a suitcase that, by the way, belongs to me." He threw her a menacing look while taking a sip from his drink. She didn't dare speak. She knew he was not yet done. Sakura had witnessed him lecturing people on their mistakes prior to killing them when they had still been married, she knew his tirade of accusations was far from over.

He put the glass down on the table to his left and leaned back in the brown leather chair. "But it seemed everything has worked in your favour once again. You get to leave the country with every hair on your pretty little guileful head untouched. And to Bolivia, of all places. I hope you packed a swimsuit." The last sentence was practically oozing sarcasm. Clenching the handle of the suitcase, she answered, "We both know I'm not going to Bolivia. He will kill me as soon as my jet makes one of those conveniently timed unscheduled stops."

A deep chuckle could be heard from the other side of the lounge. "Ah yes, your mysterious contractor. I must admit, that part of your fairytale made me laugh."

I knew it, Sakura thought, he doesn't believe me. With a smirk he leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling. "Madara Uchiha. Now that's a name I haven't heard in quite a while." After a short pause his eyes fell on Sakura again, but the smirk has disappeared. "Do you know why I haven't heard my great-grandfather's name in quite a while, Sakura?" He grabbed the glass to his left and propped himself up on the baseball bat.

"Because he's dead."

As he took another sip from the Scotch, she realised he was approaching her through the dark. Panic hit her, and she tried to back away. When she felt the cold wall touch her back, she knew there was no running away.

"Sasuke, I know you want me dead, but this is neither the time, nor the place for it. You can shoot me from afar, but do not come any closer to me." – "Why, Sakura? Are you afraid you will blow us both to bits?" She watched him swing the baseball bat in his hand as he looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "He told you about the bomb." – "He didn't have to, I was listening to your entire conversation. I must say, you're as good an actress as ever. But the show ends now."

Sakura's heart was beating so fast she was sure Sasuke must have heard it. She had difficulties concentrating on his words and calculating the distance between them at the same time. All she could think about was there were only 3, maybe 4 steps left before the entire lounge would go up in flames. "Sasuke, please…" She closed her eyes and could hear a quivering breath escape her lips. Any moment now, she thought. She twisted her arm to check for any lights, but before she could look down she felt the baseball bat pressed against her throat. She looked at the wooden racket in front of her and followed its shape until her eyes met Sasuke's.

She lost herself in his deep gaze for a second. It felt like time stood still and it was just the two of them, for a fleeting moment. His eyes were so cold. So distant. So emotionless. Almost as if they had lost their light. And Sakura was the one who had taken it away. It doesn't matter anymore, she thought regretfully as she watched him move closer ever so slowly, it will all be over any second now.

That's when it hit her. She didn't hear any beeping sound. She couldn't feel any heat emitting from her arm. Her eyes widened as she looked into Sasuke's aloof expression. "Surprised to still see me in one piece?" Sakura stared at him for a moment, shocked and happy at the same time.

"Turns out your story wasn't entirely made up. I had my foot x-rayed just to prove Juugo you were lying, because he actually seemed to believe you. Imagine my surprise when they found the very same tracking chip you were talking about."

"Does that mean you believe me?" Sakura's words seemed to anger him. His expression turned even darker and she could feel the pressure on her throat rise. Her hands circled the bat in front of her, trying to push it away a bit. "Is this… how you will kill me, then? Suffocate me… with your wedding anniversary gift?", she panted. Sakura could see a faint grin spreading across his lips. "Oh, I will not be the one to kill you, Sakura." She gasped for air as soon as Sasuke removed the bat from her throat. He took another sip from his drink and placed the racket on the table to his right. "So you do believe me." – "Just because one tiny detail of your story proved to be true, doesn't mean I'm buying this whole Madara bullshit, so don't even bother trying to persuade me. Your annoying little games are not worth my time, I actually came here for the suitcase you stole from me." He looked at her with an ice-cold expression.

I was so good at reading him once, Sakura mused, but he's so guarded now. There's nothing giving him away.

She raised her left hand and put down the suitcase on the table with the baseball bat. Unlocking the handcuffs and the suitcase, she felt herself growing nervous again. This was the only thing that might have convinced Madara to let her go despite her failed mission. But Sasuke was apparently going to spare her life now, and in exchange for that, handing over the suitcase was the least she could do. Let's just see this as a tiny redemption for everything I did to him, Sakura thought to herself. After all, the chances of Madara actually leaving her be, even with the contents of this suitcase in his possession, were slim to none to begin with.

As she lifted the lid, she could suddenly feel Sasuke move behind her. He looked over her right shoulder onto the flash drive in the suitcase. "So this was going to be your way out, huh?" A shiver ran down Sakura's spine when she felt the breath of his voice so close to her ear. She closed her eyes in hopes of enjoying this fleeting moment of intimacy between them. His hand suddenly found its way to her waist, lingering there for a second before rudely shoving her out of the way. Sasuke downed the last sip of his Scotch, left the glass on the table and took the flash drive. Grabbing his baseball bat, he turned around and was heading for the exit. Just as his hand was about to reach the handle of the door, he heard her voice behind him.

"Is that it? This is how you will leave me, no goodbyes, no nothing? That's no way to treat your ex-wife now, is it?"

She hoped the little note of sarcasm would make her seem a little less self-conscious than she really was. Sakura saw his head turn in the dimly lit lounge.

"Whoever you're working for, you must be scared shitless of him. You're more afraid of what he will do to you than of what I would, and that's saying something. Especially now that you no longer have any leverage. So I'll allow you to leave Tokyo unharmed today, because I'm sure, whatever he's got in store for you will be much more satisfying than anything I could ever come up with."

He broke his eye contact with her and turned towards the door to open it. As Sasuke was about to leave her, Sakura could hear his last words.

"And I'm sure I'll revel in watching you suffer from a distance."

The doors closed. Everything went silent. Sakura felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

 _Her end has come._


	7. Capitulum VI

**Capitulum VI –** _ **And she was met with her executioner.**_

"Come, Sakura. It's been far too long. How have you been doing?" Madara beckoned her to enter his office.

He had intercepted her jet merely 30 minutes after take-off. Conveniently caused engine troubles had forced them to land on a small airport in the countryside. Instead of repairmen trying to fix the plane, she was met with men in black suits ordering her to get in the car. She hadn't even had the time to change her clothes. And now once again she was faced with the most dangerous man she knew.

She watched Sasuke do a lot of cruel things while they were married, but Madara was a whole new level of brutal. Nevertheless, he seemed like Prince Charming personified. He was old school; good manners were of utmost importance to him. The way he talked, dressed, his body language, his entire outward appearance always radiated class. But Sakura knew, underneath his alluring persona, he was the most sadistic man ever to walk the face of the earth. _Except for Lucifer maybe._

"Cut the bullshit, you know I didn't kill him." Madara leaned back in his black leather chair and clasped his hands together. "Ah yes, your failed attempt on my great-grandson's life. And your failed attempt of convincing him that Madara Uchiha is the real big bad wolf." With a cocky grin he watched her squirm in the seat opposite him. "Did you really think he would believe you, Sakura? After everything you did to him?" – "After everything you _made me_ do to him." A dark chuckle escaped his lips, one that very much reminded her of Sasuke's. "Come now, Sakura, don't pin the blame on me. All I wanted was for you to gain his trust, find out as much information about his criminal empire as you can and then kill him. I never said anything about making him fall in love with you and getting married. The heartbreak is all on you, my dear."

Sakura looked down in shame as Madara reminded her of the harsh reality. It was true, he never specified in what way she was to infiltrate his life. Sakura could have gotten a job as a maid in his household, she wouldn't have even had to talk to him, but no. She had to fall in love with Sasuke and get married.

"Don't be so disappointed, Sakura. It wasn't entirely your fault Sasuke didn't believe you. Even if you'd still had his trust, it would have been quite difficult for him to wrap his head around the idea that I'm still alive. After all, I took great precautions so everyone believed the exact opposite."

Sakura clenched her fist in anger. Telling him the truth was her last resort, although she had already guessed Sasuke hated her too much to believe her. Call it naiveté, but a tiny part of her thought that maybe, just maybe, there was still _something_ inside him that would react to her in a positive way. She was torn from her thoughts when she heard Madara's deep voice again. "Luckily, you seemed to have lost all credibility in his eyes, so little Sasuke shall live on believing his dear great-grandfather is still very much dead."

Sakura eyes met the cold onyx ones of her former boss. So much alike, she pondered, yet again, so different.

"But here you are, Madara Uchiha, alive and kicking. The one who orchestrated the downfall of the Uchiha dynasty from the shadows when Sasuke was a child and the one who will pull out all the stops to kill him as well, so you can be the last one standing."A self-satisfied grin spread across Madara's lips. Seeing any form of smile on his face always unnerved Sakura. But then again, Madara himself was unnerving in his entire being.

"You humble me, Sakura. Though I have to admit, the Uchiha massacre might just be my magnum opus. Not even your charade with Sasuke made me so proud, and that one was delightfully insidious."

Sakura glared at him with a look of defiance. "Your days of glory are over, old man. He heard the rumours, he will find out the truth and he will end you."

Madara propped himself up on his desk and straightened himself in front of Sakura. He was menace personified. From friendly and charming to intimidating and frightening in a matter of seconds. Sakura knew she hit a weak spot. She was shaking inside, but she couldn't let him see it. With all the courage she could muster, she stood up, raised her chin and looked him dead in the eye as Madara approached her. He stopped right in front of Sakura and looked at her with a blank expression.

"What you fail to grasp with that tiny little brain of yours is that my days are just beginning, dear Sakura. Yours, however, are nearing their end. And Sasuke's as well, for that matter. I don't care if he believes you, I don't care if he comes knocking tomorrow or if it will take him a year to realise the truth. Because no matter when he finds me, I will be waiting for him. I will be there to put an end to your beloved ex-husband's miserable life and I will do so with great pleasure. Because nothing and no one will stand in my way."

Sakura could feel his hand cupping the back of her neck and his cold lips kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes in disgust.

"Thank you for your services, Miss Haruno. It was a pleasure doing business with you, but I'm afraid we must part now. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours, however transient they may be. Zetsu shall see you out now." As Madara turned to head back to his desk, the doors opened behind her.

And she was met with her executioner. She looked into Zetsu's gleeful expression. She knew what was about to happen to her. The pale-faced man in front of her was Madara's most trusted subordinate and enforcer. He also had an infamous reputation as a torturer.

"Long time no see, Sakura-chan."

 _She knew she would never see the light of day again._


	8. Capitulum VII

**Capitulum VII –** _ **He had broken her.**_

"Again!", Zetsu yelled as he pulled the lever of the transformer Sakura was wired to. Another bolt of electricity shot through her body and made all her muscles contract. She couldn't tell how much time passed since Zetsu had dragged her down into his torture chamber, probably only an hour or two, but it felt like she's been in here for days.

Sakura gasped for air when Zetsu broke the circuit again. _Don't let him think you're weak. Don't let him get to you._ With what little control she still had over her muscles she managed to raise her head and look into his face with a barely visible smirk. "Jesus, Zetsu… If hitting and electrocuting me is all you've got, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to give you a horrible yelp review." She turned her head slightly and spat out the blood she could taste in her mouth, without breaking eye contact. "Aren't you like… good at this?" Zetsu looked visibly baffled. He put his fingers on his chin and pretended to think.

"You're right, Sakura-chan. This is no way to torture you! We all know you can take a little physical pain, you Amazon!" On the last word he patted her shoulder with his hand as if to congratulate her on surviving so far. His eyes widened suddenly and he raised his index finger in the air. "EUREKA!", he screamed and looked at her overjoyed.

Sakura rolled her eyes, he always was one for exaggerated theatrics. A disturbingly wide grin spread across his pale face as he came close to her. "Physical pain won't get us anywhere, right, Sakura-chan? But I finally figured out a way to make you hurt really really bad."

He spun around and walked over to a shelf. He pulled out a box, put it on the table and rummaged through it. When he turned around again, she could see a needle in his hand. He grabbed another chair and sat right in front of Sakura. "I'm going to tell you a little story, Sakura-chan. That story will hurt you, I'm sure of it. But… you see the problem is, it won't give me a lot of satisfaction. I still need to see bruises, I need to smell blood, I need to hear screams. And because torture is always a two-way street, you know, both parties are supposed to get something out of it, I'm going to insert this needle underneath your fingernails, while telling the story." Zetsu raised the needle to Sakura's eyes and grinned at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to praise him for coming up with that idea.

"This way we both get to enjoy this, Sakura-chan. You can experience real pain through words, and I still get to see a little blood and hear a little screaming." He grabbed her right index finger and placed the needle right underneath her nail.

"Now, we all know about that horrible divorce you made Sasuke-kun go through. Ts, ts, ts, baaaaad Sakura-chan. But it seems as if he's gotten over you, you know. Madara-sama has kept a close eye on him and we watched him whenever we got the chance for it, because you know, he's a very guarded man and all. What I'm trying to say here, is…" He slowly started to drive the needle into the skin underneath her nail, while continuing his story. "Sasuke-kun has gotten over you, and gotten into _a lot_ of other girls."Zetsu raised his head to look for any reaction in Sakura's face.

With a sympathetic smile she said, "Aw, Zetsu, that's so sad. I mean I know you're a lowlife, but having to watch other people have sex is a harsh punishment, even for you." Sakura lowered her gaze to look at this lap and asked, "I mean, aren't you like… you know… down there… what's the word, castrated?"

Suddenly she could feel him push the needle deeper into her skin with force. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming, because it hurt like hell. Not just the pain from the needle, but the thought of Sasuke with other women didn't leave her unfazed either. She wasn't naïve, she knew he wouldn't be celibate. Nevertheless, Sakura hated to imagine it. But she wasn't going to show that. Sakura eyes met Zetsu's again and he looked pissed.

"What, did you think I would start crying like a little girl if you told me Sasuke slept with other women? Boo-fucking-hoo." She drew so close to his face, their noses were about to touch. She looked him dead in the eye and whispered, "You gotta do better than that." Zetsu drove the needle even further into her skin and started to move it around. She couldn't help but let a short scream escape her lips.

"Oh, you have no idea, Sakura-chan. He didn't just sleep with other women, he desecrated your entire marriage. He had this one poor little girl whose name was also Sakura, and he almost strangled her to death while he fucked her." Zetsu looked at her face, which was already contorted with pain. Every now and then he could hear a groan, or a scream. He felt aroused and let out a moan of his own, when one particular pain filled scream escaped her lips.

"Then there were the twins. He flew them to that secret location you two would always go to on Valentine's day, very special wasn't it? Meant a lot to you, Sakura-chan, didn't it? Probably still does. Oh, the things he did to them on that bed only you used to lay in." – "Stop it." – "He had cherry blossoms spread all over the sheets and fucked them both senseless on them." – "Shut up!" – "He seemed to enjoy it, more than he did with you. Oh, and the stripper he had last Christmas, she's my favourite. She also had pink hair like you, but hers was dyed you see. While your beloved ex-husband fucked her from behind, he was gripping her hair so hard he tore out a few strands."

"Shut the fuck up or I'll-"

Sakura couldn't finish her sentence, because Zetsu had just driven the needle all the way in and she let out a ear piercing scream. "He seemed to hate her hair colour, though, because when she fell asleep he braided her hair, cut it off and set it on fire. That's how much he hates you, Sakura-chan. He hates you so much he has to disfigure and hurt other women that remind him of you."

Sakura could feel tears streaming down her cheeks. Her mind went blank. The pain from the needle and the hurt she felt at listening to Zetsu's words made her so sick she could vomit. She could no longer move. She gave up.

He had broken her. And Zetsu seemed to know it.

"Good. I figured Sasuke-kun is still your weak spot. I must say I'm very satisfied with what I've achieved here. But we're far from done, Sakura-chan. Madara-sama has something magnificent planned for your last act. And I'll prepare you for it now. See you at the docks." He punched her one last time, and everything went black.

* * *

He kept listening. Nothing. Just sounds of her body being moved. Never mind, he pondered, I got a location. He grabbed the radio and pressed down the button to open the communication line with his team. "The docks." He could hear the sound of crackling for a few seconds preceding the voice of the squad leader. "Roger that."

* * *

When she woke up again, she found her feet dangling just above the ground. It took her a moment to get a hold of herself. Every limb of her body felt like it had been crushed by a truck. Every muscle, every nerve felt like it was on fire. It took all the strength she could muster to raise her head and inspect her surroundings. She was at the docks, just like Zetsu said. Sakura looked up to see her hands tied in chains. She was hanging from a crane, she realised.

"Rise and shine, Sakura-chan." Zetsu's loud voice tore her gaze from the crane above her to her torturer. He was standing about 50 metres in front of her, a black jeep next to him. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out something akin to a big remote control in his hands. Something kids would use to navigate their toy cars.

"I told you Madara-sama still had great plans for you. You know that bomb he implanted in your arm? The one you rudely warned Sasuke-kun about, so as not to kill him? Well, seeing as to how you escaped your fate in Tokyo, you're gonna have to live through it now, I'm afraid." Zetsu pointed to the jeep next to him with a triumphant grin and explained, "We had one of those tracking chips built into this baby right here. You see what I'm getting at, right?" _Yes, you bastard, you're going to blow me to pieces._ In any other situation, Sakura might have tried to get out somehow. But she had made her peace with death ever since she thought she was going to kill Sasuke in that airport lounge. At least it will all be over, she mused. I'll be free from Madara's clutches. And I can finally let go of Sasuke.

She was torn from her thoughts when she heard the engine rev up. The jeep's headlights blinded her and she had to close her eyes. "Bye bye, Haruno Sakura." Zetsu's screeching voice was the last thing she heard before the boisterous droning of the jeep racing towards her drowned it out.

"Bye bye you motherfucker." Sakura whispered to herself, bracing for her end.

But it never came.

Sudden noise of gunshots could be heard. As she looked up, she could see a chopper floating above the crane. She didn't have time to inspect who it belonged to, because the jeep suddenly exploded and drew her attention to the flames engulfing the wreckage. It seemed her rescuers used the safe distance of the chopper to shoot the tank, so as to prevent the jeep from coming any closer to Sakura. As some of them hit the ground and formed a protective circle around her, pointing their rifles in all directions and checking for any hostiles, she could feel two of them fumbling with the chains and releasing her. One of the men placed an arm around her and held her tight, while he secured a rope around the both of them. She could feel a sudden tug and looked up to the chopper to realise she was being pulled up.

As soon as Sakura was safely inside, one of the men picked up a radio and said, "Target acquired. Retreat." He leaned out of the chopper and barked something to the squad on the ground, probably ordering them to grab the ropes and get back up. Sakura couldn't make it out anymore, she felt herself grow tired.

The last thing she remembered was one of them pulling out a syringe and approaching her with it, before she closed her eyes.

 _Please, let them be Sasuke's men._


	9. Capitulum VIII

**Capitulum VIII – _You can't allow yourself to feel empathy for her._**

"Man, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. I still haven't figured out all the details, but it would have definitely worked as a trigger, no doubt. It probably would have taken a few seconds to lock on the chip's exact location, though. But then – boom."

Shikamaru spread his fingers in the air to simulate an explosion. "And check this out." He pointed to a tiny light in the middle of the small rectangular object. "This was why she kept looking at her arm. It signaled her distance to the chip. The light would turn orange if she were in a 30 metre radius, and it would flash red when she reached 15 metres. It was implanted right underneath her skin, so she would have seen it faintly shine through."

Sasuke eyed the object on the desk in front of him. _So this tiny little thing would have blown me to pieces._ "I want you to research it further. Find out as much as you can about it. And my tracking chip as well." He turned to leave Shikamaru's lab.

As soon as Sasuke exited the room and the doors closed behind him, Shikamaru sighed and leaned back in his revolving chair.

"So troublesome."

* * *

The first thing she saw after waking up were the stitches on her left lower arm. She moved her right hand and gently touched the threads with her fingers. It's gone, she deduced, it's finally gone.

She turned her head and looked around, only to realise she found herself in the exact same patient room she was in after one of Sasuke's henchmen had kidnapped her. She let out a sigh of relief. _So they were his men after all._ Sakura couldn't remember anything after reaching the inside of the chopper. She faintly recalled the sting of a syringe. They must have sedated her. She wondered how much time had passed since they had rescued her form the docks.

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly when the doors opened and she was met with the sight of the same red-haired woman who had greeted her the last time she woke up here. "Miss Haruno." Karin closed the doors behind her. This time it was only her, no nurses. "Can I come closer or will you smash my head in again?", she asked sarcastically.

Sakura pursed her lips and cleared her throat. "Yeah, about that… Sorry. I'm sure you've heard about the bomb. I was just desperate to get out of here, because I thought-" Karin silenced her with a snort. "I know, I get it." She approached Sakura and came to a halt in front of her bed. "As I'm sure you've noticed already, Sasuke-san had your implant removed, so there's no need for you to wreak havoc on his employees and his estate again, because you're free to be around him now."

Sakura looked at the woman in front of her with a puzzled expression. "Free to be around him, does that mean… he wants me to stay here?"

"All I know is that he instructed me to inform you that you are to meet him this evening at 7 pm sharp. I will be back at 6 to provide you with clean clothes, and at 6.45 again to escort you to his office. What you do in the meantime is up to you; however, you are not to leave the patient room, Sasuke-san was very clear on that."

Karin raised her right hand to adjust her glasses. She waited for the woman in the bed to ask questions, but she said nothing. She instead turned her gaze to the stitches on her left arm. But they weren't the only ones that marred Sakura's skin. Karin heard about the circumstances under which her boss' ex-wife was rescued, she heard about the torture. She also read the doctor's report after her surgery. Apparently, the wound on her left lower arm was not nearly the only thing they had had to fix.

Get a hold of yourself Karin, she warned herself silently. She's the enemy. She hurt Sasuke. You can't allow yourself to feel empathy for her.

Clearing her throat and straightening herself, she looked into the bruised face of the woman lying in front of her. "If you feel any pain or need assistance with something, press this red button here and someone will come to your aid. Now, if there's nothing else, I will see you again at 6."

She turned around and strut towards the door, when Sakura's voice from behind made her stop. "Thank you."

Karin slightly tilted her head, and her suspicious eyes were met with Sakura's tired ones. "For what?" – "You're devoted to him, you care about him. So thank you for looking out for Sasuke." Surprised at her kindness, Karin didn't know what to say. She instead grabbed the door handle and exited the patient room.

Her puzzled expression still hadn't left her face, as she kept wondering what it was about Haruno Sakura that seemed to draw other people in.

 _Well fuck, I'm starting to like the enemy._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** A short chapter this time. The last one was a beast and I thought it would be better to slow down a bit after the shit-almost-hit-the-fan-but-didn't-because-Sasuke-saved-the-day-stuff going on in the previous chapter. Hope you guys like it. Pax de (I wonder how many of you will get this one).


	10. Capitulum IX

**Capitulum IX –** _ **She was my wife once, after all.**_

The enemy had once again found its way onto his estate.

It was weird, knowing she was around. Knowing he would be faced with her again in a few minutes. Sasuke still hadn't decided on what exactly her role in all of this would be. He might lock her up in one of his prison cells and wait for this to blow over. Or he might use her as a field agent and send her on the more dangerous missions; God knows she could handle it. But one thing he did resolve upon: She would stay with him. No more escaping, no more running away. She had far too much valuable intel on him, and they needed it to bring him down.

Madara Uchiha. Sasuke still couldn't grasp the idea that man was alive. But it seemed Sakura was telling the truth after all.

He had never planned on rescuing her. Actually he was hell bent on leaving her to her fate, whatever it was going to be. When he had slipped her that tiny bugging device in the airport lounge, it was only in hopes of listening in on her conversation with her mysterious contractor and maybe figure out a thing or two about him. However, when he had picked up who was on the other end of that line his mind had changed. Little did he know he would actually hear his great-grandfather's voice. Hear him confess to the murder of his family.

 _The Uchiha massacre might just be my magnum opus._

Sasuke heard everything; from the pilot informing Sakura of their emergency landing, her fight with Madara to her torture at Zetsu's hands. But this one sentence was the one that left him shaking. He had almost thrown his laptop against the wall that moment, he was so unfathomably furious. It had taken every ounce of self-control he had to keep listening.

Oddly enough, he had a similar feeling whilst listening to Zetsu tormenting his ex-wife. Sasuke knew she wouldn't have been let off easily, he expected a bit of pain to be involved. But he also genuinely believed he would have enjoyed it. He wanted her to be punished for what she did to him for a very long time now and he always came up with sadistic ideas he thought would satisfy his need for vengeance. But when the moment came and Sasuke knew she was enduring unimaginable pain, it didn't feel like justice. It felt like something remotely akin to… empathy, he guessed. Sasuke really didn't expect his reaction to hearing her nerve-splitting screams. They actually moved him. Not enough to feel the need to rescue her then and there, but enough to make him want to take off his headphones and skip that part.

But just like he had to listen to Madara's sickening words, he had to force himself to listen to Zetsu's as well. Because as soon as Sasuke had realised the man who was after him really was Uchiha Madara, he had suddenly decided he needed Sakura after all. He had waited for Zetsu to give him a hint as to where they might be located and sent a squad to rescue her.

And now here she was again, in his office, waiting for him.

Sasuke came to a halt in front of the golden doors. He gazed at the fire breathing dragons entangled in each other, seemingly meandering on the surface of the doors and encircling the Uchiha crest in the middle. How funny, he mused, looking at a symbol that used to grace some of my ex-wife's clothes. Sasuke took a deep breath and opened the doors to enter his office.

She was facing the terrace, gazing out into the night when she heard his steps and turned to him. She didn't dare speak, he was so commanding she decided to let him have the first word.

"Sakura."

No matter how cold and emotionless he seemed to pronounce her name, to her, it was always like a caress. It was a habit of his, she realised. Back when they were still husband and wife, her name had always been the first thing he had said when saw her.

Sasuke broke his eye contact, walked over to the bar and poured two glasses of vodka. He made his way to the couch in the middle of his office and sat down silently, placing her glass on the table opposite his own. After she hesitantly took a seat as well, she eyed the drink with a raised eyebrow and remarked, "You do know I'm taking a shitload of pills at the moment and am not allowed to drink any alcohol." Leaning back and taking a sip, he looked at her with an apathetic expression. "When has that ever stopped you?" Sasuke observed her delicate fingers circle the glass in front of her and bring it to her lips. His eyes lingered on them for another second, when he caught a glimpse of her tongue catching a drop of vodka. He took another generous gulp himself, before he raised his voice.

"You're going to work for me from now on. You will be allowed to live on my compound, but you will not be allowed to leave it. Anything you want to do must be signed off on by me. If you want to go anywhere, you wait for my approval. If you want to have anything, you wait for my approval. Also, I had all your assets frozen, so there's no buying your way out of this, you have no more money. You will be assigned your own security detail that will trail you 24/7, so don't even think about pulling any shit. You will provide us with everything you know about Uchiha Madara and you will help us bring him down. If you do not cooperate, or if you do anything that raises my suspicion even in the slightest, I will end you. Am I understood?"

Sasuke looked at the battered face of his ex-wife with ice-cold eyes. He could see her walls were up as well. She learned a trick or two from him during their marriage, he realised. She got better at masking her feelings and expressions, yet he could still read her like an open book. _She was my wife once, after all._

Her thoughtful gaze fell on the glass in her hands and her right index finger was tapping against it. Sasuke had to suppress a smirk when he realised he still had the ability to make her nervous. His eyes met hers again when he heard Sakura's voice. "Agreed. On one condition."

"No conditions, this is nonnegotiable, Sakura." His voice turned angry and his eyes grew darker. How dare she. She had absolutely no right to negotiate anything. It would either be his way, or no way at all.

Sakura put down the glass on the table between them and leaned forward. The rage he could see in her eyes matched his own.

" _One condition._ You allow me to buy my own clothes. It's none of my business why you had a random jeans and shirt lying around somewhere that just so happen to fit me perfectly. But if I'm going to stay here, I sure as hell won't wear dirty old clothes that were left behind by your whores."

So that's what she wants, Sasuke deduced, oh this is golden. He leaned forward as well and looked into her rage-filled eyes with an aloof expression. Their faces were mere centimetres apart. He couldn't help but let a subtle grin spread across his lips. "Why, Sakura, are you jealous?", he whispered. Sasuke could feel his opposite grow even angrier. She flared her nose and stared daggers at him with close-knit eyebrows. "This is degrading and you're only doing this embarrass me." – "Now, why would I do that?" Sasuke tilted his head slightly and looked at her with an arched brow. He could hear the sound of her fingernails digging into the leather of the couch.

He was just about to add something else, when her expression suddenly cleared and she leaned back with a self-satisfied smirk. "Fine", she replied, "I guess I'll just have to live with it then." Sasuke suspiciously eyed the suddenly cocky woman in front of him. Seems like she's up to something, he mused, but whatever it is, she knows she must be careful around here, so it probably won't be anything dramatic.

Sasuke downed the last bit of vodka and stood up. Turning his back to her and strutting over to his desk, he announced with a cold voice, "Kakashi will drop by with some paperwork later on, just the usual formalities, contracts and such. I'm sure you still know how to use a pen. We're done here, you can see yourself out."

The last thing he heard was a disdainful snort before Sakura slammed his doors shut. "Seems like I've just released the Kraken.", Sasuke muttered with a grin.

 _God have mercy on us all._


	11. Capitulum X

**Capitulum X –** _ **I told you I'm not going to wear those clothes.**_

"All I wanted were some new clothes, but no, he would rather have me walk around in these dirty old rags his fuck bunnies have left behind." Sakura was fuming. She was sitting in front of a pile of clothing she was brought last night when Kakashi had visited her.

It felt good to see him again. Back when she was still married to Sasuke, he was not only his confidante, but he became hers as well. She had always felt as if he were some kind of mentor for them both; a wise old man with decades of life experience who always had a suitable advice for any situation. That being said, his distant manner last night hurt all the more. Kakashi hadn't been mean to her, but she could see he had buried his old feelings and had treated her like merely a business partner. Sakura couldn't blame him; he felt responsible for Sasuke and was just trying to protect him. As long as she didn't have Sasuke's trust, all of his subordinates would keep treating her as the cold-hearted ex-wife who betrayed him.

She dismissed those gloomy thoughts and rested her scornful gaze on the pile of clothing in front of her again. Granted, they were washed and neatly folded, so she couldn't really call them dirty. Moreover, she actually liked some of the pieces, but, by God, she would never admit to that. _Hell would freeze over before I let him see me in any of these again._ She groaned and let herself fall back. Well, at least he didn't accommodate me in a hole, Sakura mused, letting her eyes wander around her.

She was given one of the smaller guest houses of Sasuke's compound, directly opposite the main house, where he had his office and his other rooms. The two buildings were separated by a beautiful pond that was part of a garden that stretched out over the majority of the estate. A small wooden bridge granted access to the other side. Everything was kept in a traditional Japanese style, from the gardens to the architectural facets of the buildings to the interior design, with a few modern influences here and there. Although Sakura was more or less a prisoner here, she felt comfortable in her guest house. It was small, at least compared to the main house, yet extraordinarily fancy. All rooms were tastefully furnished and made the resident feel like royalty, but the bedroom was her favourite one. It was to die for. The futon she had slept on last night was wonderfully comfortable and she had woken up to the most breathtaking of views, looking at the sea and the cliffs upon which Sasuke had his estate built. There was even a spacious wardrobe that had enough room to house the clothes of a five-member family. But alas, it was empty.

Thinking back to the idea that had popped into her head during her conversation with Sasuke yesterday evening, her mood suddenly changed for the better again. A shit-eating grin spread across her face as she stood up and headed towards her bedroom. Sakura came to a halt in front of the floor-length mirror and inspected her reflection. Given the hot temperatures of Tokyo's summer, she had slept naked last night and also hadn't put on any clothes since waking up half an hour ago.

She released her pink tresses from the ponytail and watched them cascade down her back. Sakura threw one last glance at her reflection before heading out with a devious smirk.

* * *

He envied Naruto, Sasuke realised in that moment. He was somewhere in his beach house, with his wife and kids enjoying the summer breeze and bathing in the brisk waters, while Sasuke was stuck in yet another dull meeting.

Since it was so hot, he decided to slide open one of the shoji doors and allow a freshening breath of air into the conference room. His languid eyes roamed over the garden and his gaze rested on the pond in front of Sakura's guest house. The temperatures were so torrid and the meeting was so tedious, Sasuke actually found himself playing with the thought of walking over to it and letting his feet cool off in the water.

He was suddenly torn from this idea when he saw the doors of the guest house on the opposite side slide open. He heard the commotion of his business partners and the surprised questions before looking up to see what they were all so curious about.

But when he did look up, he was livid.

"I told you I'm not going to wear those clothes.", Sakura remarked with a sly grin on her face, while nonchalantly leaning against the door frame.

Naked.

Sasuke clenched his fist and could feel the rage bubble up inside him. A deep growl could be heard before he shot out of his seat, walked out of the conference room and slammed the shoji doors shut behind him. With long strides and a menacing expression he crossed the bridge over to her side of the compound while keeping his gaze fixated on her triumphant grin. He grabbed Sakura's left arm and hauled her back into the foyer of her guest house before slamming her shoji doors shut as well.

"Oh my, Sasuke, you seem terribly upset about something. Whatever could it be?", Sakura asked, innocently smiling up at her infuriated ex-husband. She could hear him puff and growl as he approached her.

"Is this how you will behave then? Walking around naked, parading yourself like a whore?" – "Mm, I've been naughty. Are you going to take me over your knee now?", Sakura whispered with a wanton gaze. Sasuke was coming ever so closer. Something in his eyes changed, she realised. Was that a spark of lust or was he getting even angrier? He stood so close to her now she could kiss him if she raised herself on tiptoes.

Sakura suddenly felt one of his hands around her waist and another underneath her knee pit, lifting her up and setting her down on the dresser behind her. Sasuke was standing between her spread legs, their noses so close they were just about to touch. With a flustered expression she looked into his eyes again, only to find them cold and distant as ever.

"Let me be perfectly clear on one thing, Sakura." He whispered as his bland eyes bore into her vivid ones. "I can be this close to you, touching you," he said, while letting his hand wander from her knee pit up to her waist, "without feeling anything." Sasuke could see a faint blush spread across her cheeks as he watched her gaze drop to his lips. "Don't mistake my generosity in letting you live here with any sort of feelings you think I might still harbour for you. Because they don't exist. I feel nothing when I see you, dressed or undressed. So you might as well stop this childish act." He let go of her body and turned around to leave her guest house, when her quiet voice stopped him.

"Your pupils are dilated. And your pulse is high. I felt it when your hands touched my body. You _do_ still feel something." – "Rage."

Sakura hopped off the dresser and approached him from behind. "Stop lying to me Sasuke, I've already seen your reaction. And I've felt it, too. You can't deny there's still chemistry between us." Her arms wound around his torso as she pressed her naked self against his back. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear, "I will dress like a nun if that's what it takes. But I want my own clothes. I refuse to be a constant reminder of all the women you had after me."

Sakura let go of him and turned around to head towards the bedroom. She was going to be the one to have the last word this time. As Sakura grabbed the bathrobe that was fortunately brand new and tied it around her figure, she could hear Sasuke slide open the doors and leave the guest house. She waited one more moment before returning to the foyer.

A triumphant smile spread across her lips when she spotted his black American Express card lying on the dresser.

* * *

He was simply being the bigger man, he told himself over and over again as he watched the delivery men unload all the things Sakura had ordered from their van the next morning. Sasuke knew how stubborn Sakura was and that she would have kept that ridiculous child's play going for weeks.

He told himself the real reason why he caved in and gave her his credit card was because her antics would have put him in a bad light as a businessman. Allowing an associate of his to walk around naked was unprofessional, plain and simple. It would have seemed as if he couldn't control his employees, and that, in turn, would make him seem weak. And Sasuke never allowed himself to display any sort of weakness whatsoever. That's the real reason, he tried to convince himself.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he had felt real jealousy for the first time in three years when he realised his business partners were gaping at his ex-wife in all her naked glory.

As he watched an overjoyed, and most importantly, _dressed_ Sakura help the delivery men carry the boxes to her house, he thought back to what she had said last night.

 _You can't deny there's still chemistry between us._

Sasuke felt the chemistry all right. He felt his pulse quicken when he touched her. He felt a shiver run down his spine when she pressed herself against him. As much as he still tried to hate her, as much as he tried to distance himself from her – Sasuke couldn't deny their attraction.

 _But he'd be damned if he ever admitted to it._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** I feel like I suck at describing things, especially places & surroundings (yet here I am, writing a fanfic. I know, I'm weird like that). I had difficulties describing Sasuke's estate, so if any of you guys can't really imagine what it's supposed to look like, just google The Wolverine Yashida compound, that was my inspiration.


	12. Capitulum XI

**Capitulum XI –** _ **I knew what you had with Sasuke was real.**_

It's already been more than a week ever since she started working for Sasuke, yet it was still weird thinking of herself as one of his employees. Sakura had been given a smartphone and laptop of her own to work with and she spent most of her days alone in her guest house talking to former associates and contacts, reading up on everything she thought might be related to Madara in some way and trying to figure out his next move.

It felt weird being alone again for most of the time. She got so used to Kai's presence in the last couple of months, but she had to leave him behind for his own sake. They had said their goodbyes prior to Sakura leaving Tokyo, because she knew if Madara had gotten his hands on Kai as well, he wouldn't have made it out alive. Nevertheless, Sakura missed his presence. She was sure Sasuke had bugged both her laptop and her new phone and was monitoring every call and click she made, so Sakura didn't try contacting him. It would just make him angrier, and despite the fun she had with teasing him, right now, an angry Sasuke is not a good thing.

Sakura hadn't seen him very often in the last few days, nor had she spoken to him. It almost seemed as if he was avoiding her. He was always in meetings, on his phone talking to someone or out of town 'taking care of things', as Karin dubiously put it. The red haired woman turned out to be a great help to Sakura. Given the nature of her employment, she was restricted in almost everything, so Karin acted a facilitator of sorts; whenever Sakura needed anything, she figured out a way to get it. She also had a brilliant mind, which had helped Sakura more than once when she found herself stuck with something. She was glad Karin overcame her initial hostility towards her. Moreover, she was glad someone as fiercely loyal as the Uzumaki was fighting for their cause. After all, they needed all the help they could get to bring down Madara.

 _That bastard is elusive as hell, but I'll nail him._

Sakura was lost deep in her thoughts while eyeing the laptop screen in front of her. Madara went out of his way to cover his tracks and was immensely careful with everything he did, but she managed picked up a few clues as to who he might be working with. She still couldn't put all the pieces together, though.

She went through the articles on the recent murders in Tokyo again. After checking the dates of each of them, she looked at the file on her laptop screen. Sakura's eyes widened in sudden realisation. "They match.", she whispered, before jumping up.

It surprised her to see it was dark already when she walked out of the guest house and headed towards Sasuke's office. I must have lost track of time, she deduced. As she crossed the bridge, Sakura felt growing anticipation. Finally, she made a breakthrough. This will bring them one step closer to their goal. And maybe even one step closer to reconciliation, Sakura prayed silently. Eager to tell Sasuke the new good news, she turned around the corner with a smile and raised her head to look for him.

What she saw then made her stop dead in her tracks. Her smile had vanished completely and the anticipation she felt earlier at seeing Sasuke turned to anger. She swung around quickly, so as to prevent them from seeing her and leaned against the wall in hopes of calming herself again. But her anger didn't subside, and she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"Must be hard for you to see him like that, huh? And don't give me that you just got something in your eye bullshit." Kakashi's sudden voice broke her out of her thoughts and she raised a hand to quickly wipe away the tear. Sakura tried to laugh away the fact he had just caught her in an embarrassing situation, but all she managed was an awkward huff. She looked up into the face of the man who had always been like a father to her. The last time they saw each other, his eyes had been distant. But now, they were warm and full of understanding.

Faking a smile as best as she could, she claimed, "I don't know what you're talking about." She could see Kakashi's head shaking and him beckoning her to sit down at the bench next to the pond. Reluctantly, she obliged. It's not like I can talk to my ex-husband or anything, since he's busy making out with a blonde bimbo on his terrace, she thought to herself. As she sat down next to Kakashi, she gazed into the pond and waited for him to talk.

"Sasuke gave me the audio file of your encounter with Madara and asked me to listen to it. He said he was too angry and felt like he might have missed a thing or two, so he told me to analyse it. Which I did. That Zetsu guy did quite a number on you, huh?"

Sakura kept silent. She didn't like thinking back to that, especially not to all the stories Zetsu had told her about Sasuke.

"He made all of that up, you know. The stories about him strangling a girl called Sakura, the twins… and my God, the stripper with pink hair. Zetsu must be one hell of a fuck up to come up with that bullshit."

Sakura tilted her head and looked up at him suspiciously. "You're just saying that to make me feel better." – "It's the truth. That never happened. I mean, don't get me wrong, Sasuke was beside himself, he was… I can't even begin to describe how furious he was after what you did, but his anger never reached a point where he would hurt innocent women."

Sakura drew up one leg and rested her chin on it. Her gaze fell back on the pond in front of them. She observed the elegant movement of the koi fish and lost herself in their serenity for a moment. A feeling of relief filled her at hearing Kakashi's words. He would never lie to her, she was sure of that. The one thing that had broken her back in Zetsu's torture chamber was the thought that Sakura hurt Sasuke so much that he had to take out his anger on innocent women that reminded him of her. However, now that she knew he had never done those horrible things, the pain associated with that memory lessened a bit.

Sakura was torn from her thoughts when she heard Kakashi's voice beside her.

"Nevertheless, Zetsu's methods proved effective. I must say, it didn't surprise me all that much to hear your reaction to those stories. After what happened, everyone believed you were the most cold-hearted, manipulative and deceitful _bitch_ , excuse my French, in all of Japan. Everyone, including Sasuke, believed you faked all of it, that you never had any feelings for him and that you never cared about him. Everyone, except for me. And Naruto maybe, but he thinks everyone is in love with everyone, so that's not something to go by." Sakura couldn't help but laugh at that last part. She missed the blonde knucklehead.

"I knew what you had with Sasuke was real. You were genuinely in love with him. So of course hearing Zetsu say things like that would be painful. Just like seeing Sasuke with his blonde lady friend over there must be hard as well. But it's hard for him too, you must know that. You have to be patient with him, Sakura. He needs time to warm up to the idea of you being in his life again. I'm not saying he'll wake up one day and realise he might still have feelings for you, but I believe over time, you two might just be able to sort things out."

She looked into Kakashi's compassionate eyes. He never was one for touchy-feely conversations, so hearing him say all of that was a big deal for Sakura. When he had caught her crying a few minutes ago, she was hell bent on laughing it off and just returning to her rooms. But now that he admitted he knew about her true feelings for Sasuke all along, she felt like he had taken a load off her mind. She didn't know she needed a conversation like this, until Kakashi came along and lifted her spirits.

A barely visible smile spread across her lips as she looked into his eyes. "Thank you, Kakashi." He gave her a nod and got up from the bench. Just as he was about to leave, he turned around and said, "Just so you know, it's nothing serious between those two. It's her first time here and I'm guessing it will be her last. So you have nothing to worry about her."

Sakura snorted and grinned at Kakashi, as she watched his retreating figure disappear into the night. She stood up as well and made her way to the guest house, under the watchful gaze of a pair of onyx eyes. He didn't hear their entire conversation, but what little he picked up at the end made him curious.

 _Suddenly, the blonde in his bed lost all of his interest._


	13. Capitulum XII

**Capitulum XII –** _ **A man so brilliant, yet so blind when it comes to women.**_

"Interest rates, account data, transactions… My God, Sakura, you have his entire financial footprint. How the hell did you get this?" An astonished Karin looked at all the papers Sakura had shown her. "Never mind that, what's really important about this-" – "Don't you never mind me. _How_ did you get this?" Karin put down the files on the table next to her, resting her index finger on them and eyeing her opposite with a scrutinising gaze.

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair. With something akin to an apologetic smile, she answered, "I may or may not have hacked into his bank's website." She could hear the redhead in front of her snort. "Oh come on, Karin, we're both working for Uchiha Sasuke. He's the biggest criminal mastermind in all of Japan, so don't act like hacking is the worst thing we're doing here." – "Sakura, you have to be careful. Sasuke wouldn't mind if you hacked into the bank account of Japan's Health Secretary. But this man… He's a whole different story. If what you claim is true, we must be cautious as to how we deal with him."

Sakura let out a sigh and leaned against the desk. She watched Karin approach her and come to a halt directly next to herself, inspecting the files on the desk. "Regardless, what you found out is remarkable. It does look like your theory might be correct." Karin raised her head to look at the pink haired woman. A smile graced her lips when she spoke. "You really are a fascinating woman."

Sakura felt her cheeks heat up at that compliment. With an awkward grin, she replied, "Likewise. You know, I never got to ask about you Naruto. I thought he didn't have any relatives left." She watched Karin's smile spread as the woman turned to fully face Sakura now.

"Neither did I. You know Sasuke always does background checks on everyone. He did the same with me after we met and it turned out I'm Naruto's cousin from his mother's side of the family. We were both overjoyed, because we grew up thinking we were alone and that we had no family. But I do have a family now." Sakura could feel her heart warm up at hearing Karin's words. She knew what it meant to be lonely, and she was glad the two Uzumakis found each other.

Karin's eyes fell on hers again. With a soft voice she asked, "So, we know you're a hacker now. Is there anything you _can't_ do?" Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at that question. "Cooking, honestly. I suck at it."

"That's true."

Both women turned their heads when a deep voice interrupted their chatter. Sasuke was leaning against the doorframe with an aloof expression.

Karin retreated a few steps, cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. Sakura watched her straighten herself and put on a standoffish façade of her own. She's so different around Sasuke, she pondered, almost as if she was trying to impress him with her ability of being cold and distant. "I'll let you two talk." As Karin strut out of the room, Sakura's eyes fell on Sasuke.

"You found something." It wasn't a question. It was not even a statement. Sakura knew it was more of a silent command to show him the results of her research.

She walked around the desk and spread out the files she had printed out so that they were all neatly arranged. After Sasuke stepped into the room and came to a halt in front of the desk, she started explaining.

"I looked at the mysterious murders that plagued Tokyo the last few weeks. I thought it was nothing at first, but there was this symbol I kept seeing at each crime scene. I couldn't, for the life of me figure out what it was, but I knew I had seen it somewhere in the past, when it suddenly hit me. It's the symbol of Root. I checked the dates of the murders and compared them with money transfers that went to this account. They matched. So on the same day of each of these murders, the same amount of money was transferred to this bank account. And guess what the victims all had in common: They were trying to shut down all the business we know Madara has already established here in Tokyo."

Sakura expectantly looked at her ex-husband. His gaze was still fixated on the documents on the desk. He picked up the sheet displaying the information of their target's bank account.

"Danzo Shimura. Doesn't surprise me." Looks like she might be right, Sasuke thought to himself, but Root hasn't been active in years, why would he come out of the shadows now? Sasuke put down the sheet and turned to exit the room, when he heard Sakura's angry voice behind him.

"Hey, I worked my ass of the last few days to give you this information and you're not even going to acknowledge it?!" Sasuke turned around and looked at her with an arched brow and the same haughty expression he had before. "For crying out loud, you have to appreciate the effort of your people every now and then. I mean look at your poor personal assistant. All Karin seems to be doing is reading every wish from your lips, and you barely seem aware of her presence. I mean have you ever tried to get to know her, or just talk to her?"

Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his chest and deadpanned. "I don't talk to Karin. I just order her to do things."

"See that's the problem.", Sakura sighed as she shook her head. _A man so brilliant, yet so blind when it comes to women._ She rested her hands on her hips and looked at him accusingly. "Do you know why she always acts so cold and distant when you're around? She's trying to imitate you, because she wants to impress you, because she _likes_ you." Sakura waited for the look of realisation to hit Sasuke's face. But nothing came. Instead, a grin.

Oh that's cute, she actually thinks Karin is in love with me, Sasuke mused. He had to suppress a chuckle, thinking of the irony of this situation.

"You got that wrong, Sakura. Karin doesn't like me. I think I would have noticed that." He watched her expression turn sour. Sasuke remembered what fun it was to tease her, when she was so sure she was right and was desperately trying to prove a point, when he knew there was nothing to prove.

"Ugh, Sasuke, I swear to God, you have _no clue_ when it comes to romance. Honestly, I'm surprised you even managed to pull off marrying me, now that I've come realise the true extent of your incompetence concerning women. I'm telling you, she's into you."

Time to pop her bubble, Sasuke thought, grinning to himself.

"Sakura, you don't get it. Karin is not in love with me. Because Karin doesn't _like_ me." Stressing that one important word, he prayed Sakura would get the hint. As he watched her eyes widen and her mouth open, Sasuke couldn't help but allow his smirk to spread ever so subtly. "Oh." Sasuke could see a blush spread across her cheeks as she turned her gaze from his eyes to the papers on the desk.

"Yes, oh. Now that we've clarified my personal assistant's sexual orientation, would the love guru mind following me to my office?"

He turned around and went ahead, hearing Sakura's footsteps behind him a few seconds later. After entering his office, Sasuke walked over to his desk and waited for Sakura to close the doors, before he raised his voice.

"It just so happens that I received intel on Danzo as well. I was informed he would be at an auction in Sapporo this weekend and we're going to kill him there." He grabbed his phone and strut over to the couch Sakura was sitting on. As he sat down, Sasuke put the phone on the desk between them and looked at Sakura.

"You're going to call Gaara now. He still hates me, I still hate him – it's a mutual thing, so he would never do me a favour. But we're going to need his help with this one, since Sapporo is his territory, and I remember he was fond of you so you'll talk to him." Sasuke expectantly looked at the suspicious face of his ex-wife. With an arched eyebrow she asked, "'You remember he was fond of me?' Are we going to have that conversation again? Because I've told you over and over again, nothing happened between Gaara and me. We were simply being nice to each other, which you clearly couldn't handle."

The light hearted mood from earlier had suddenly disappeared. Sasuke felt himself grow angry thinking back to that time. He had always been jealous and possessive, but Gaara was the only man during his marriage to Sakura who managed to make Sasuke feel actually worried. He was sure Sakura would never leave him for another man, but if, hypothetically, she would, Gaara would be the one to take her away from him. Sasuke clenched his fists and with a deep growl, added, "Just call him. And put him on speakerphone." Sakura pressed the button and leaned forward, waiting for Gaara to pick up, when she heard a familiar voice on the other end.

"Sasuke, what an unpleasant surprise. Whatever it is, I'm not buying."

"What if I told _I'm_ the one who's selling?", Sakura threw in with a cocky grin on her face, while looking out onto the terrace in front of Sasuke's office. She could hear a deep chuckle from the other end, before he answered.

"Sakura. I heard about your return. Must be one hell of a favour Sasuke needs, if he has _you_ call me." – "Oh, you know the usual. Just a little assassination we need your help with."

She was enjoying this, Sasuke realised. _She knows I hate his guts and she's rubbing it in my face, that beast._ Sasuke observed his ex-wife's expression while she was talking to the man on the other end of the phone call. She was smiling and laughing, almost as if talking to an old friend. Oh, how he wanted to reach into his phone and punch Gaara on the other side.

"Anything for you, little one." There it was, that stupid pet name he used to call her with. Sasuke had to force himself to keep silent. Gaara knew he was listening; he was flirting with her on purpose. But Sasuke would not give him the satisfaction of snapping on the phone.

"There's an auction in Sapporo this weekend the target will attend and we're going to be there as well. But since it's your city and you know your way around it better than anyone, we would like to ask you for your help." – "Of course. Have your husband send me all the details and I will pick you up at the airport. Oh, I forgot, ex-husband, sorry." Sasuke was fuming. Gaara said that on purpose to provoke him, he was sure of it. He actually couldn't wait to see him again, just to punch his face into a million pieces.

Sakura's soft voice tore him from his violent thoughts and he looked into her green eyes. "Alright, it's settled then. See you soon, Gaara." – "Can't wait for it, Sakura." She pressed another button to disconnect the line and leaned back. Her eyes met his.

Silence befell them for a moment, as Sasuke came to realise her deep pools of green still had the ability to calm his nerves.

He tore his gaze from her, grabbed his phone and stood up to head back to his desk. "What now?", he heard her voice behind him. Sasuke took a seat, and stared daggers at his computer screen. "Now you can see yourself out.", he answered coldheartedly. After he saw her leave and shut the doors, he closed his eyes and let out a groan.

"Great, now I can watch that bastard sweet-talking my wife all over again _._ "

Sasuke's eyes went wide suddenly when he realised what he just said.

 _My wife._

He hadn't said that phrase in three years. Hadn't thought about it in three years. After the divorce, she had always been his ex, the beast, the liar. It felt strange allowing those two words to leave his mouth. But then again, everything was strange ever since she came back into his life.

She wasn't his wife, he had to remind himself. She wasn't the kindhearted woman he fell in love with. Whenever Sasuke was close to feeling something for Sakura, he had to conjure up memories of her betrayal, of how he felt the moment he realised she had lied to him all along.

But lately, not even those horrible images could help him hide the fact that the thought of her, the sight of her, hell, even the smell of her, left him… wanting.

 _Sakura was making him feel again, slowly but surely._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Last update for a week, maybe even two, because I'm going on holiday. Can't wait to come back and continue writing, though. I just wanted to thank you guys for all the great feedback I've received so far. As cheesy as it sounds, but you're my motivation to keep going (so you better keep those positive reviews coming muahaha). Sooo, enjoy your summer, or lack thereof, depending on where you live. :)


	14. Capitulum XIII

**Capitulum XIII –** _ **What the actual fuck just happened?**_

Surely he did this on purpose, Sakura pondered as she prepared herself for the jet's landing.

She was hoping for some one on one time with her ex-husband during their flight in order to talk about a few things; the mission in Sapporo, the steps they were going to take after Danzo's death… their relationship. Instead she was informed she would fly to Sapporo on her own, as Sasuke apparently still had to take care of some urgent business and would arrive later in the afternoon. He's still avoiding me, Sakura deduced. However, they would be staying in Sapporo for three whole days to deal with Danzo; she was sure she would find a way to get him alone.

Sakura suppressed her worrying thoughts and instead focused on her plans for the weekend, after all she would be seeing the Sabakuno siblings again after more than three years. Sakura had got to know them through Sasuke, but had heard of the infamous Sapporo siblings before. Although they were also members of the Yakuza just like Sasuke, they Sabakunos were some of the nicest people Sakura had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Ever since saving Kankuro's life once, Sakura had basically become family to the trio and they always went out of their way to make her feel welcome in their city.

She couldn't wait to see them all again. She also couldn't wait for the oh so funny bickering between Gaara and Sasuke.

Despite what he had always feared, there really was nothing between Gaara and her; they were simply fond of each other. Sakura was well aware of his occasional flirting, but he only did it to tease Sasuke a little, because the two men never really got along well with one another. Even during their phone call a few days ago, the two of them fell back into old habits, laughing with each other as if it hadn't been three years since they last saw one another. Sakura was surprised to hear Gaara call her by that cute pet name he had given her the first time they had met.

What surprised her even more was Sasuke's reaction to hearing it. So subtle, almost non-readable to others, but Sakura could see through it. She saw his clenched fist and his hardened jaw. It did surprise her a bit to discern his jealousy while listening to her conversation with Gaara. After all, Sasuke had made it abundantly clear to her that there were no more feelings involved from his side. Moreover he was steering clear of her for the last days and whenever he _was_ near Sakura, he was as cold and distant as ever. Despite the physical attraction she felt when she had confronted him naked, it really did seem as if Sasuke got over her.

The pinkette was torn from her thoughts when she felt the jerk of the plane's landing. She gathered her belongings and made her way to the exit. Putting on her sunglasses and stepping out of Sasuke's jet, she could already see a shock of red hair. A smile spread across her face as soon as she recognised who it belonged to. Gaara was leaning against his white Tesla sports car, another two black cars and his security detail standing behind him. A fine grin spread across his face, a sight rarely to be seen.

"Welcome back, little one."

* * *

Sasuke put down his drink on the table and with arms crossed in front of him, faced the big glass wall of the hotel suite. As he let his gaze wander through the night skyline of Sapporo, he was impatiently tapping his index finger against his arm. He had arrived three hours ago, and Sakura had been here for almost the entire day. Sasuke was wondering what, or rather who in the world was taking her so long.

The decision to let Sakura fly on her own was made entirely due to his unwillingness to be in close proximity to his ex-wife. Not because he couldn't stand her presence, but rather the exact opposite of it. Lately, Sasuke found himself craving her attention, like he did back when they had still been husband and wife. The few instances where they _were_ together reminded Sasuke of how easy everything was with her.

Sakura had already become comfortable enough around him again to tease him and joke around, and to his chagrin, Sasuke realised he didn't mind. He still had his guard up around Sakura and was watching her like a hawk, but every now and then he caught himself wishing everything would be as it was prior to their divorce. Despite his efforts to stay away from her and burry himself in work as a distraction, Sasuke couldn't deny that old muscle in his chest he long believed to be dead started making tiny skips again whenever Sakura was on his mind. And now they would spend an entire weekend together, in _his_ city.

Sasuke hated himself for being jealous of Gaara. Knowing the red haired Sabakuno, he would go out of his way to make his stay in Sapporo miserable. And what better way to do that than flirt with the one woman Sasuke still seemed to have feelings for.

"Kami, if I make it through this weekend without sleeping with her, I will never touch a drop of alcohol again.", he muttered under his breath while eyeing the glass of Scotch on the table to his right.

A sound behind him tore Sasuke from his thoughts and made him turn towards the door. One glance at his watch revealed it was already 11.30 pm. _About damn time._ "Sasuke-kun?" His cold eyes met her surprised ones.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

He didn't even have to look down to recognise her favourite black cocktail dress, which he had bought for her once. Sasuke was actually surprised she had held on to it the last years. He was also surprised to see it in one piece, given the many times he had practically ripped it off her body. His eyes wandered to her slender legs as her hands were busy taking off the black stilettos.

"I wasn't with Gaara, if that's what you're asking. And judging by your expression, that's most definitely what you're asking. I actually had dinner with Temari." After her bare feet hit the floor, Sakura threw her clutch on the table and headed towards the bedroom. Sasuke could hear her faint voice when she asked, "Why are you here anyway? I thought you booked your own suite." – "To discuss the details of tomorrow's plan." Sasuke could make out her figure coming out of the bathroom and approaching him. "What's there to discuss? We infiltrate the auction, catch him off guard and shoot the bastard. Piece of cake."

Sakura came to a halt directly in front of him and turned around. Raising her hands, she grasped her pink tresses and held them up as she looked at him with sultry eyes. "Undress me, please.", she whispered. Sasuke's tore his gaze from her eyes and instead looked at her bare back.

He had always liked her back. Watching the curves of her shoulder blades dip when she moved her arms, tracing her spine with his thumb as she was kneeling in front of him while he fucked her from behind.

"Sasuke-kun."

Her soft voice tore him from his lustful thoughts. Sasuke's hand wandered to her dress and ever so slowly, he unzipped it, careful not to touch her skin. The dress was so tight the zipper bended around every curve of her body and his fingers followed the lines of her slender figure. As the zipper came to an end the dress suddenly slid off of her and landed on the floor around her feet. Of course she's not wearing any underwear, Sasuke mused as he looked at her backside covered in absolutely nothing. As she turned around in front of him, his gaze wandered from her hips to her flat belly and landed on her perky breasts. He exhaled audibly and had to resist the urge to touch her.

Sasuke's eyes shot up to meet Sakura's gaze when she whispered, "Do you want to fuck me now, Sasuke-kun?" He clenched his jaw as he looked into Sakura's sultry eyes.

"God yes."

His voice was raw and deep when he answered. Sakura cocked her head and gave him a mischievous look. "Are you sure? I thought you said you didn't have any feelings for me." – "I don't need to have feelings for you just to fuck you." Sasuke tried to mask his arousal with an emotionless voice, but he was well aware of the lie he had just said. He was aware of his body's reaction to seeing Sakura naked, so close to him. _How the hell can she still do that to me?_

Sasuke had to suppress a gasp when he suddenly felt her hand on his crotch. Her gaze fell to his lips when she spoke. "I can feel how hard you are, Sasuke-kun. Your body's betraying you. You cannot hate me and want to fuck me at the same time."

She let go off him and took a step back. Resting her hands on her hips and looking at him with a challenging expression, she said, "No more lies, Sasuke-kun. I promise I will be honest with you, but I expect the same from you in return. I have no problem admitting I still want you. I have no problem resuming our relationship. But if you want this… if you want _me_ , you need to stop lying to yourself and face the fact that there _is_ still something between us." Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. When he looked at her again, his gaze was cold and angry.

"Don't flatter yourself, Sakura. You're standing in front of me naked, so I got aroused. Hot naked women will do that to me. Especially blondes lately, as I'm sure you've noticed." A smug grin graced his lips. Sasuke couldn't help but throw his latest conquest in her face. He watched as her expression turned sour.

"Really, Sasuke, you're playing the jealousy card? That's rich coming from you; you can't even handle listening to me have a phone call with Gaara without wanting to break his neck." – "Get over yourself, woman. I want to break his neck because he's a dick, not because I don't like the idea of him talking to you."

Sakura crossed her arms in front of her and angrily glared at her ex-husband. _Two can play this game, you jerk._

"Fine, then I guess you have no problem with the two of us having breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Go ahead."

"He also invited me to go shopping for a gown. He said he would buy me whatever I want."

"Knock yourself out."

"Dinner at his place before we leave for the auction. He'll cook my favourite meal."

"Have fun."

"Oh I will. I might even end up in bed with him, because he's such a gentleman.", Sakura spat, glaring daggers at him. That was when Sasuke snapped.

"Well marry him then, why don't you?", he roared. With a rage-filled expression he looked at his naked ex-wife in front of him. "Ensnare his gullible little heart, wrap him around your finger, make him fall in love with you and then destroy him like you did with me!" Sasuke grabbed the glass he put down on the table before and threw it against the wall right behind Sakura.

A shattering sound filled the otherwise quiet suite. Sasuke ran his hands through his hair and inhaled audibly. He turned his back to Sakura and came to a halt in front of the glass wall, looking out into Sapporo's night. The silence that befell them for a few seconds was disrupted by Sakura's soft voice behind him.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke clenched his teeth. "For what?" He heard her sigh. After a few more seconds, she raised her voice again.

"For everything. For betraying you, for hurting you… I'm truly sorry. I don't think I've said that since I came back, but I have the feeling you needed to hear that. Even though I know these words won't change much. But I meant what I said earlier. I promise I will be honest with you if that's any-"

"Fuck your promises. You promised once to love me and stay by my side for better or for worse and only two years after making that promise you _broke_ me. Your wedding vows were worth jack shit, so was our marriage. So no, Sakura, I don't believe you. I don't trust you. I don't love you." Sasuke turned around to glare at her with ice-cold eyes. It surprised him a bit to see she looked actually hurt.

What surprised him even more were the words that came out of her mouth then.

"But I love you."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to think; his mind went blank at hearing those four words. He wasn't sure whether he should feel happy at hearing her confession or angry because it might just be another lie. He kept staring at her with a blank expression.

"I loved you back then and I haven't stopped loving you to this day. And if shouldering all your anger and hate by myself is the only way to prove my loyalty to you I will gladly do it. But don't you _ever_ say our marriage was worthless. Don't you dare drag the best three years of my life through the dirt. You can come at me with all you've got, God knows I deserve it. But I will not listen to you say our marriage meant nothing, when it meant the world to me."

Sasuke watched a single tear roll down her cheek before she spun around, walked to her bedroom and slammed the doors shut.

As he stood there, frozen on the spot, he let his gaze wander through the foyer of her suite. Sasuke looked at her black cocktail dress that he had unzipped just a few minutes ago. He eyed the shards of the glass he had thrown against the wall in a jealousy induced rage. _What the actual fuck just happened?_

They went from playful teasing, to bickering, to sexual innuendos all the way to a full-blown fight in a matter of seconds. Not to mention her confession, which had completely thrown Sasuke off the track.

Pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out an exhausted sigh, he made his way towards the entry door of her suite. Sasuke tried to push away all those confusing and doubtful thoughts that plagued his mind and went straight for the bar of the hotel.

 _I need a drink before dealing with this shit._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Woop woop, I'm back, bitches! This chapter took a turn I didn't intend for it to take; I wasn't planning on making Sakura confess so soon, but I'm just gonna roll with it. I actually like it better this way, her confession will allow me to incorporate aspects in the following chapters that I was planning on mentioning later on, but now I think they make more sense at this point of the story. I really hope you guys like it.

 _ **Post post scriptum:**_ Sasuke is watching Sakura like a _hawk_ \- you see what I did there? :P


	15. Capitulum XIV

**Capitulum XIV –** _ **I eat men like Danzo for breakfast.**_

Shit definitely hit the fan last night.

Her original plan of seducing Sasuke into admitting they still had chemistry completely backfired. Instead of a confession from Sasuke, she was the one to affirm her feelings for him. Sakura hadn't planned on telling him that, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Hearing him say that he thought their marriage had been worthless just hurt too much. She felt the need to prove him wrong, to remind him of all the happiness and love they had shared, to assure him that what they had was real. After betraying him, Sakura knew that he would doubt her feelings for him. But she never thought Sasuke's doubts would go so far as to make him view their marriage as meaningless.

She replayed the incidents of last night in her head over and over again, trying to figure out whether or not she could have handled it better. Sakura wasn't sure if confessing her feelings was the right choice. She had stormed off after telling him and Sasuke had left her suite shortly after that without saying a word, so she had no clue how he had taken it. Their relationship, if one could even call it that, had been precarious from the start, but now things had become even more complicated.

It was the first time in years that Sakura actually found herself mad at Sasuke. As much as it hurt her to hear him say her wedding vows were worth nothing, it angered her just as much. Sakura knew she didn't really have a right to be mad because of this; after all it was her fault that Sasuke had doubts about her feelings and intentions in the first place. Still, it aggravated her that he had dragged their most precious memory together through the dirt as if it really did mean nothing to him.

Her oppressive thoughts were interrupted when Sakura heard a voice next to her. "We'll be arriving at the gallery any moment now. Are you nervous?"

She looked into Gaara's green eyes and tried to hide her worries with a smile.

"Please. I eat men like Danzo for breakfast."

Sakura heard a deep chuckle escape his lips. Ever so subtly, he grinned at her with pure mischief in his eyes. "I'm sure you do. But in case anything does go sideways, I'll be there." Gaara's hand reached out to touch her own. His warm fingers encircled hers and he gave Sakura a reassuring look. A gentle smile spread across her lips. "Thank you."

The door of his car was opened and Gaara helped Sakura step out onto the red carpet leading into the art gallery. Buzzing crowds and flashing cameras surrounded them as they made their way to the entrance of the building. They were immediately greeted by a waiter offering them champagne. Grabbing two glasses, Gaara and Sakura headed towards the lobby to meet with the others. There was a stage on the other end of the hall and rows of empty seats in front of it. The auction hadn't yet begun; the guests were still strolling around the gallery, inspecting the art works or dancing to the music of the string quartet.

Sakura let her gaze roam around in search of familiar faces, but she couldn't recognise anyone. She suddenly felt Gaara's hand on her back pulling her to him. Setting down her glass on the tray of the waiter next to her, Sakura rested her left arm on Gaara's shoulder as they started swaying to the sound of the violins.

"I never took you for a dancer.", she joked while grinning up at him. "I never took you for someone who could scoff two McDonald's menus plus a giant sundae. It seems there are still things we both don't know about the other." Sakura had to laugh thinking back to their lunch. She prided herself in being a foodie, but every now and then even she resorted to fast food.

"Well, you know all that shopping and walking around left me hungry. By the way, thank you again for the dress, I really love it." Gaara lowered his eyes to look at Sakura's dark green satin gown he had bought her during their shopping spree through Sapporo. She could feel her cheeks heat up from his gaze. "Well I can't have my escort running around in a potato sack now, can I?" Sakura bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. Instead she grinned and leaned into him. Letting out a sigh, she swayed to the melody of the quartet and allowed herself to enjoy the serenity of this peaceful moment, before their mission would begin.

Looking at their intertwined hands, she said, "Thank you for spending the day with me, I really had great fun. I didn't even know I needed this distraction." – "Let me guess, tough day at the office?" Sakura snorted and pursed her lips. A look of annoyance immediately graced her face. "You have no idea. My boss is a jerk." – "That's bound to happen when you work with your ex-husband, little one. But you have to give him some time, he'll warm up to you eventually."

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. Letting her gaze aimlessly wander through the crowds, she asked, "Why is everyone telling me to give him some time? He was unequivocal when he practically told me he hates my guts and I'm sick of running after him, because this isn't easy for me either. You know, I might just give up on winning him back."

Sakura's voice became a whisper and she turned her head to face Gaara so the other guests around her wouldn't see her sad expression. The music stopped suddenly and she could make out a voice asking the visitors to take their seats as the auction was about to begin. She watched the crowd head towards the stage as she looked for Sasuke, when Gaara's voice made her turn around again.

"The mission has begun. Danzo is here somewhere, but we have to draw him out. I will provide a distraction and you guys prepare for the assault. My men have snuck in weapons and other gear you might find useful; you will find them in the lockers down in the basement. Once you're ready, we'll proceed with our plan. Alright?" The comforting look on Gaara's face disappeared and was replaced with the expression of a cold and calculating criminal mastermind.

Sakura nodded and was just about to leave the lobby, when she felt his hands cup her face. "Don't worry too much about Sasuke, he'll come around eventually. As much as I hate to admit it, you two belong together, so get those thoughts out of your head and concentrate on our plan. I refuse to see you battered and bruised at the end of this mission, you hear me?" Sakura was just about to say something when she felt Gaara's lips on hers giving them a short peck. "Be careful.", he said before spinning around and heading towards the stairs.

Sakura could hear the sound of glass shattering somewhere behind her, but paid it no attention as she watched the red haired man disappear into the crowd. She stood there, stunned for a moment, before shaking her head and leaving for the basement.

* * *

He tried to concentrate on Karin's fingers wrapping the bandages around his right hand, but he couldn't get the image out of his head. Sasuke was beside himself.

 _How dare he._ What in the world gave him the right to do what he just did? And in front of his own eyes, no less. As Sasuke clenched his fist, he imagined wrapping his bleeding hand around that bastard's neck.

Karin's voice interrupted his sadistic thoughts and he looked into her eyes. "The next time you watch someone kissing your ex-wife, can you at least not hold a glass in your hand and break it into a million pieces? You can't run around shooting people when your one good shooting hand is bleeding." – "I have two good shooting hands, one of with I will use to kill that Sabakuno bastard.", Sasuke growled.

After Karin finished bandaging up his hand, they stood up and made their way out of the bathroom. The crowd of guests has moved to the stage since the auction had already begun. Sasuke let his gaze roam around his surroundings, going over the plan in his head again. "You go wait in the parking lot and get the car ready. This won't take long." As he watched Karin nod out of the corner of his eye, he spun around and headed towards the lockers in the basement.

Walking down the stairs and turning around the corner, he was suddenly met with a half-naked Sakura. "What the hell do you think you're doing?", he snarled. Sakura discarded her evening gown and grabbed a black catsuit out of the locker. As Sasuke watched her slip into the tight outfit, she answered coldly, "You don't expect me to go on a killing spree in a floor-length satin dress and high heels, do you? Also, what the hell happened to your hand?" - "None of your concern.", he growled.

Opening another locker, Sasuke found a sniper rifle, a Kevlar vest, a box full of ammo and all kinds of other equipment they might need for their hit on Danzo. He grabbed the vest and threw it to Sakura, while strapping a submachine gun around his torso. Sasuke snatched the sniper rifle and together, they silently made their way to the rooftop of the gallery.

As soon as they opened the door a cold breeze hit them. They walked over to the edge of the roof to look down at the back alley of the building, where they expected Danzo to come out any second. The sudden noise of Sasuke's radio beeping disrupted their silence. Gaara's voice could be heard on the other end. "You guys ready?" Sasuke grasped the small object and pushed a button. "We're in position. How the hell do you know Danzo will take this exit once you start the distraction?" – "It's the exit I would take as well. It's the closest to the main street. He'll be there, I'm sure of it." With a menacing voice, Sasuke answered, "You better be."

He lifted the rifle and threw it to Sakura. His eyes were met with her surprised look as she eyed the rifle now in her hands. "I thought you wanted to kill him." Sasuke let his gaze fall on his wrist watch, when he said, "My hands aren't steady enough. I had too much to drink last night."

"I wonder why.", he heard her dry remark next to him. As he watched her adjust the rifle scope, Sasuke waited for the commotion to start. Right on cue, they heard screams of the guests in the lobby, people yelling that they smell gas and needed to evacuate the building immediately. Only a few moments later, the sound of an engine roaring up filled the night. Sasuke looked down into the back alley and spotted two black cars headed for the main street. They came to a sudden halt, however, as they found their way blocked by Gaara's men.

"He's in the second car.", Gaara's voice informed them through the radio. Sasuke watched Danzo's security detail getting out of the front car and arguing with Gaara's men to let them through. They were armed to the teeth and had their faces hidden by white porcelain masks with animal faces painted on them.

"As soon as he steps out, shoot him in the head.", Sasuke commanded keeping his gaze fixated on the action happening below. The door of the second car finally opened, and Sakura's eyes followed the movement of the men in the back alley through the scope of her rifle. She could see an older man in an expensive suit stepping out, but he had his back turned to them. "I can't see his face, do we need visual confirmation first?", she asked Sasuke. "No, it must be him. Kill the bastard."

Sakura exhaled all the air left in her lungs and held her breath in order to calm herself and slow her heartbeat. Bending her finger, she watched the man below her turn around just as she pulled the trigger. The bullet shot through the air and hit the target right between his eyes. As Sakura watched a trail of blood run down his face, she cursed. "Fuck, it's not Danzo."

Sasuke didn't even have time to react, as the men below found their position and started shooting at them. They both ran for cover and sprinted towards the door to get back into the building. Rushing down the stairs, they heard the crackling sound of the radio, followed by Gaara's loud voice. "What the fuck just happened?" Sasuke grabbed the device and held it to his mouth, as he yelled back, "You tell me, fucker. I thought you were sure Danzo was going to take this exit." – "He did, those are his men. It's not my fault you didn't wait for the guy to turn around. But he's got to be here somewhere." Sasuke pushed the radio back into his pocket and lead Sakura to the parking lot of the back alley.

They both took cover behind a pillar and turned around the corner to watch the gunfight between Danzo's security detail and Gaara's men. The sudden noise of heels clicking made them both raise their weapons. "Whoa, easy guys, it's me." Karin approached them with a concerned look. She watched the two of them relax and lower their weapons. As Karin crouched down in front of them, she looked at Sasuke questioningly. "This totally escalated. What do we do now?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sakura fumbling with something strapped to her leg, only to realise she was holding a smoke bomb in her right hand.

Grinning widely, Sakura declared, "Now, we kick some ass."

She reached back and threw the bomb right into the middle of the fighting crowd and waited for the smoke to engulf the men. All three of them stood up, sprinted towards the smoke cloud and started taking out Danzo's confused and startled guards one by one. Sakura drew out a knife she tucked into one of the many pockets of her catsuit and went for everyone with a white mask on his face, while Sasuke opted for the more direct approach of shooting everyone in the head with his submachine gun. Karin punched her way through, leaving a trail of unconscious bodies behind her until she came face to face with the tallest of the men.

Hitting his jaw with her clenched fist, she knocked off his mask and watched him tumble back. As the smoke started to dissipate, Karin caught a glimpse of his face and her eyes widened. She turned her head towards where she thought Sasuke was standing and yelled, "I found Danzo. He's here." Two strong arms quickly wrapped around her and pulled her back. Karin struggled to get out of Danzo's grip, when she felt the sudden pain of a bullet piercing her left shoulder. It wounded Danzo as well, for she heard him gasp and felt his grip loosen. As Karin's body was falling to the ground, she could faintly make out two silhouettes approaching her, before everything went black.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she watched Karin's body hit the floor in front of Danzo. She could feel the rage bubble up inside her, and with a scream she lunged at him. Evading his punches and landing a few of her own, Sakura managed to land a hit on his wounded shoulder, but failed to see his right hand punching her in the stomach. A searing pain went through her body and Sakura had to gasp for air.

She suddenly felt Danzo's foot pushing her to the ground and his hands gripping her hair and holding up her head. Her eyes took in the sight in front of her; bodies lying on the floor, blood splatters everywhere and Sasuke standing in front of her, pointing his gun at Danzo and glaring at him with furious eyes.

"Did you really think I would be this easy to kill, _boy_? You're a fool, just like all the Uchiha.", Danzo growled as he gripped Sakura's pink tresses even tighter. "That's no way to talk about the family of the man you're working for. Tell me, what did Madara promise you to make you rid Tokyo of all his enemies?"

A loud laughter filled the back alley. Danzo spat out the blood from his mouth and looked at Sasuke with a deceitful grin while shaking his head. "You're so naïve, Uchiha. You think you have the entire world figured out, don't you. And yet you allowed yourself to be fooled by this whore." Looking down at Sakura in disgust, Danzo snapped back her head to the point it hurt. "If a stupid little girl like her is able to cloud your judgement, then it doesn't surprise me you still haven't figured out my plan." He observed Sasuke's expression and paid no attention to the woman beneath him.

That was when Sakura pulled out another knife, reached back to Danzo's hands and sliced through her hair. Exploiting his momentary confusion, she crawled away and yelled, "Shoot him, Sasuke!"

The sound of a bullet whizzing through the air could be heart, followed by a loud thump of Danzo's body hitting the ground. Out of the corner of her eye Sakura could make out Sasuke walking past her and approaching a stertorous Danzo. "You fool… Do you have any idea of the things I've done to come this far, to be able to stop him. Now he has no one opposing him… Except for you and your incompetent little henchmen maybe, but you are worth nothing.", Danzo spat as his hands covered the bleeding wound on his belly. Sasuke looked down at the man lying on the ground to his feet. "What are you talking about?" A chuckle escaped Danzo's lips and blood spilled out of his mouth as he spoke.

"I wasn't working for Madara, you stupid little brat. I pretended to help him… I told him I would kill everyone in Tokyo that stood in his way, but in secret… I kept up their work. I was going to destroy that Uchiha bastard from the inside out… But you managed to eliminate the only force capable of stopping him, you created a power vacuum that Madara will exploit immediately… No wonder your cursed family is no more, you Uchihas are so easily manipulated… Just like your brother, he was-"

A fist suddenly hit Danzo's face and shut him up. At the mention of his brother's name, Sasuke couldn't control his rage anymore. He was beside himself. There was only Danzo's bruised and battered face in front of him that bled more and more with every punch. Sasuke felt the rage and thirst for vengeance seethe inside him. No one insulted his brother, least of all such a scumbag as Danzo. All Sasuke saw was blood; he completely lost himself.

Then, there was her voice. She called out to him.

The sound of her screaming his name stopped him for a split second, before he clenched his jaw and landed another hit. He could suddenly feel her arms wrap around him, pulling him away from the beaten up man on the ground. Sasuke's livid eyes were still fixated on Danzo, but he could feel his rage lessen. Sakura's voice was faint at first, he couldn't even make out what she was saying, but now it has penetrated his mind.

Suddenly he became aware of her; she was standing in front of him, her arms still wrapped around him and her anxious eyes searching his own and her voice asking him to calm down. "Sasuke-kun, please, he's not worth it. Don't listen to him."

A rattle could be heard from Danzo. He looked up at Sasuke with a grin and said, "Yes, Sasuke-kun, listen to your whore."

Those were Danzo Shimura's last words. Because in that exact moment, Sasuke put a bullet in his brain.

 _"Burn in hell."_


	16. Capitulum XV

**Capitulum XV –** _ **I want to believe you.**_

"Hell of a fight you guys got yourself into. But you'll all be fine, you just need some rest. And no strenuous activities, especially Miss Uzumaki. She's lost quit a lot of blood, but the bullet didn't do any grave damage. I gave her a sedative, so she'll be asleep for the rest of the night. If you need anything else, just call me."

Sasuke nodded and watched the physician leave his hotel suite. He walked over to the bar, poured himself a drink and took a seat on the couch. Downing the Scotch in one gulp, Sasuke set down the glass on the table and leaned back with a sigh. His left thumb went to the palm of his right hand, scratching the wounds underneath the bandages. With closed eyes he thought back to last night.

The mission turned out to be a complete fuck up. Once the fight had ended, there were only his and Gaara's men left standing. Except for Karin. After Sasuke shot Danzo, Gaara had his men clean up the mess in the back alley, while the rest of them retreated to the hotel, with Karin's unconscious body in tow. Sasuke had a physician check up on everyone and then retired to his suite.

Things definitely didn't go as planned. However, Danzo was dead.

Sasuke wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not. Granted, he was a shady and secretive bastard, even by Yakuza standards. He and his Root organisation had always acted from the shadows and nobody had ever quite figured out what exactly he wanted. Danzo had been a thorn in Sasuke's side ever since he had taken over the Uchiha business, so part of him was glad he was gone. But then again, he claimed he was actually opposing Madara. Eliminating such an influential figure, who could have possibly helped to bring down the enemy, might have been a mistake.

Feeling the sting from his wounds on his hand reminded Sasuke of the rage that had overtaken him when Danzo had mentioned his brother. No, not for anything in the world would he have worked together with that bastard. In retrospect, Sasuke was glad Danzo was dead. He deserved to die. Either by his bullet, or by his hands. Sasuke knew he could have punched him to death, if it hadn't been for Sakura.

 _Sakura._

At the thought of his ex-wife, Sasuke leaned forward and put his head in his hands. It's already been more than a day since she had confessed, but he still couldn't wrap his head around the idea that she might still be in love with him. Part of him wanted nothing more than to believe her, to forgive her. Whatever it was that he was feeling for Sakura, it practically begged him to take her back. But then rationality and worry kicked in. Sasuke's broken heart kept reminding him of the hurt she had caused him, kept reminding him of the vow he made after their divorce to never let another woman come this close to him.

But it was Sakura. She had been his everything once.

Sasuke remembered that when he had seen her walk into the lobby in that breathtaking green dress. He couldn't keep his eyes off her the entire time. It angered him to know that Sakura still had such a strong hold over him, while he thought he was over her. But what angered him most was Gaara's kiss.

The feeling of jealousy started when Sasuke watched him pull Sakura closer as they started dancing. It had taken every ounce of self-control he had to not strangle Gaara then and there, as Sasuke watched his hand touch her bare back and his eyes follow every curve of her body. His jealousy peaked when he watched his lips closing in on hers and it instantly turned to full-blooded rage when they touched. Granted, it was only a quick peck, but it was still enough to leave Sasuke seething with anger.

This emotional roller coaster Sasuke was going through ever since Sakura had come back into his life made him realise she was right. She was absolutely right when she had told him that they still had chemistry, that there was still something between them… that they still wanted each other. Their attraction has finally reached a point where Sasuke could no longer deny it. Hell, he was even playing with the thought of embracing it. Embracing her. Feeling her in his arms again. Simply letting go of all this anger and hurt that had plagued him for the last three years.

But Sakura was and always will be the only woman able to break him. Sasuke wasn't sure whether he really was ready to take that step.

He opened his eyes when he heard someone enter his suite. "How is she?" _Speak of the devil._ "Fine. The doc gave her a sedative; she'll be asleep for the rest of the night." Silence followed his answer, until he heard her leave again.

With his back still turned to her, Sasuke raised his voice and made her stop. "The flash drive you stole from Sasori. Did you look at it?" – "Not all of it. I couldn't decipher everything. But the things I did see seemed to point to someone trying to sabotage Madara. That's why I took it in the first place; I thought he would let me go if I showed it to him."

Sasuke's thumb ran over the bandages around his right hand. As his gaze fell on the empty glass on the table in front of him, he grasped it and made his way towards the bar. He still didn't look at Sakura, but he could see her standing in the doorframe out of the corner of his eye. Opening the bottle of Scotch and pouring himself another drink, Sasuke explained, "Shikamaru was able to decode everything on the flash drive. He showed me the contents, but they didn't make sense to me, as one vital piece of information was still missing. The files on it indicated some sort of sabotage, but we couldn't figure out who was planning it."

After putting two ice cubes into his glass, Sasuke turned around to look at her. His eyes met Sakura's. Raising the glass to his lips, he took in the sight of her. The short hair suited her, he realised, despite it looking messy. "Danzo was telling the truth after all. With his confession all the pieces fit together. The files on the flash drive confirm his story; he really was keeping up the resistance in secret."

Sasuke watched Sakura cross her arms in front of her and lean against the door. She didn't look surprised, but rather worried. "Do you regret killing him? He was quite influential, he could have been useful in our fight against Madara."

Sasuke shook his head as he made his way towards the couch in the centre of his suite. Regret was not a word often to be found in Sasuke's lexicon. And he most definitely did not regret killing Danzo Shimura, especially after he had insulted his family. His brother. Sasuke took a seat on the couch and let his gaze rest on Sakura.

"Just because he was opposing Madara didn't make him any less of a bastard. He deserved to die."

He could hear her sigh as she looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. "So, what do you want to do now?" – "I honestly don't know. I was thinking you could tell me." Sasuke's gaze was met with her puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?" – "You were always the one who came up with bright ideas when I was stuck."

Sakura snorted as a grin spread cross her lips. She closed the doors behind her and walked over the bar to pour herself a drink as well. "Yeah, ideas like how you could organise Naruto's bachelor party, not how to wage a war against your great-grandfather." Taking a sip from his Scotch, Sasuke remarked, "As if a party with Naruto is any different to waging a war." He could hear her laughter fill his suite.

Sasuke realised then how much he had missed that sound. Her laughter. Her. They had moments when everything was so easy, as if they were still married. Where he could have sworn he was still madly in love with her and she was head over heels in love with him. This was one of those moments.

As Sasuke watched Sakura mix herself a drink, a question suddenly escaped his lips.

"Why did you tell me?"

She froze for a second, before turning her head to look at him. With a baffled expression, she asked, "Tell you what?"

"That you love me. Why did you do it? To confuse me, to manipulate me… what's your endgame, Sakura?" Putting in ice cubes in her drink, she grasped the glass and headed over to the couch to take a seat opposite Sasuke. He was met with her sincere green eyes; those deep green eyes he thought could never fool him. Sasuke realised he was afraid to look into her eyes for too long. He was afraid he would eventually see her true feelings, her true intentions…afraid he would maybe even see real love.

"You are my endgame, Sasuke-kun. Everything I did, I did for you. Even leaving you three years ago, hurting you… I did it to protect you, because I couldn't go through with what Madara wanted me to do."

Sasuke tore his gaze from her to look at the bandages around his right hand. Oh the pain he still had to suffer because of her. He thought everything was over when she had left him, yet here he was, falling for his ex-wife all over again. Sakura's soft voice made his eyes look up again.

"Whether you believe it or not, I really do love you, Sasuke-kun. I told you I will be honest with you, I will not lie to you. So that's the truth. I married you because I love you, I left you because I love you, and I'm here sitting across from you now, because I love you. I don't expect you to reciprocate my feelings, but I sincerely hope that someday you will at least be able to believe that those feelings I have for you are real." Sasuke lowered his gaze to his glass and watched Sakura raise her own to her lips and take a sip.

 _I want to believe you._ He couldn't say it out loud. The part of him that was suspicious of Sakura was still bigger than the part that wanted her back. But the very fact that he even had a part inside himself that wanted her back, be it ever so small, proved to him that what they had was not yet over.

Sasuke's raw voice disrupted the silence that had engulfed them when he spoke. "You destroyed me, Sakura. I let you into my world and into my life and you took _everything_ from me. You do realise that I'm having difficulties believing your confession, when it's coming from the one person who utterly annihilated me." Sasuke's angry eyes were fixated on his ex-wife. Sakura couldn't withstand his ice-cold glare and lowered her gaze to her hands folded in her lap.

"I know. But I'm doing all I can here to redeem myself, because I want to make it up to you, Sasuke-kun." – "God, even hearing you say my name like that drives me insane. Do you have any idea what you do to me?", he snarled as he stood up from the couch and headed towards the glass wall. Looking at the skyscrapers illuminating Sapporo's night, Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair. "What is it that I do to you?" When he heard her voice close to him, he realised she had stood up and was approaching him from behind. He still had his back turned to Sakura as she continued speaking. "Tell me what I do to you, Sasuke-kun."

"You make me _feel_!", he growled as he spun around quickly facing her now. His livid black eyes met her surprised green ones.

Sasuke clasped Sakura's face between his hands and rested his forehead against hers. Letting out a sigh, he clenched his eyes and said, "You make me feel again, and I hate you for it, because I don't want to feel anything for you, so I hate you, but at the same time I-"

Sasuke stopped himself before going any further. The words he was just about to say surprised him. _Have I really fallen this fast?_

He could suddenly feel Sakura's hand resting against his cheek. Sasuke opened his eyes to look at her. He was met with her jade green pools and the sight of her endless love. Sasuke realised something in that moment, as he lost himself in her gaze.

As his lips came crashing down on hers, one thought reverberated through his mind.

 _I'm still hers._


	17. Capitulum XVI

**Capitulum XVI – _It tore him up inside._**

Her arms immediately wrapped around him once Sakura realised what was going on.

Sasuke was kissing her.

Her lips moved against his in a passionate rhythm as if they had been doing nothing else for the past three years but kissing each other. Sasuke's hand grasped her short pink tresses while his arm twined around her small waist as he pressed her against his body. Sakura couldn't help but moan into the kiss, which prompted Sasuke to pick her up and set her down on the desk behind them without breaking the kiss. Sakura wrapped her legs around Sasuke's and pulled him closer.

She could feel his hardened manhood pressing against her thighs as another moan escaped her lips. Sasuke's hands went to her shirt and just as he was about to undress her, Sakura broke away.

She let out a shaky breath, trying to get a hold of herself. Sasuke's hands were still resting on her waist while he was trying to catch his breath. Neither of them looked at each other. Letting out a sigh, Sakura leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "Sasuke-kun." His lewd eyes shot up to meet hers at the whisper of his name. _God damn your alluring look, Uchiha._ Sakura practically had to scream at herself not to start kissing him again.

"I don't want this to happen for the wrong reasons. It would kill me if we slept with each other and you would treat me like it didn't mean a thing afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I want this – I want _you_. But before we make that step, I need to know that I have your full trust again." Her wondering eyes searched for a reaction in his face, but Sasuke just closed his eyes and turned away from her.

Running his fingers through his jet black hair, he let out a sigh before whispering, "Why do you have to be so fucking conscientious all the time? You make _me_ seem like a bad guy for wanting to fuck you right now when _you_ are the back stabbing bitch."

 _Excuse me?_ Sakura had to force herself not to gasp out loud. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at Sasuke's back that was turned to her. "Well see, Sasuke, girls aren't particularly keen on sleeping with guys that call them back stabbing bitches. So before we get to the fucking part, you better figure out a way how this can work out. Because I'm getting sick and tired of crawling around on my knees begging for you to take me back. Don't think I'm willing to suck up to you forever. I think I've done enough to prove my loyalty, so it's about damn time for you to make up your fucking mind."

After jumping off the desk, Sakura angrily stomped towards the doors and slammed them shut.

"Alluring, my ass."

* * *

It didn't come as a big surprise to Sakura that she would fly back to Tokyo alone again. Although she had a feeling that Sasuke would have done this even if they hadn't kissed. Sakura wasn't sure whether she should be happy that they had gotten closer, or if she should be fearing Sasuke's wrath for yelling at him. Either way, their relationship was back to scratch.

He had admitted that he felt _something_. Whether Sasuke was referring to his general physical attraction to her, or maybe even talking about actual emotions was still a mystery to Sakura. In any case, she had got to kiss him again after three years. And that was a victory for her, despite what came after it.

Throwing the towel into the hamper, Sakura made her way out of the bathroom when a delicious smell caught her attention. It had already been late when her security detail had brought her back to Sasuke's compound two hours ago. She was too lazy to cook for herself, so Sakura had asked one of Sasuke's chefs to whip up some dinner before she went to take a shower. As she entered the foyer of her guest house she spotted a cloche on the table. Lifting it up and snatching the plate underneath it, she headed to her living room and turned on the TV.

Might as well let Sailor Moon wash over me, Sakura mused while taking a bite, after such a weekend I deserve a quiet evening with hot noodles and cartoons.

Only it wasn't going to be a quiet evening. Moments later she started coughing up blood and barely made it out of the house before collapsing into the arms of her security guard.

* * *

She was a mess. Sakura was trembling and writhing so wildly they had to strap her to the bed. A crowd of doctors and nurses were rushing around the patient's room trying to stabilise her as Sasuke watched her angelic face contort with pain. He had just been in the middle of a conference call when he heard one of her security guards yelling that Sakura had collapsed. Seconds later, he found himself here.

It was worse than he thought, having to watch her convulse in pain. It tore him up inside. A part of Sasuke was still mad at her for what she did to him; a part, he came to realise, that was becoming ever so smaller with each day. But even that part of him hated to see her suffer.

As Sasuke observed the scene in front of him, he realised that Sakura wasn't writhing anymore. He could see her chest rise and fall with every breath she took, but now it was slow and steady unlike the frantic rhythm it had a few seconds ago. Sasuke's eyes fell on the monitor displaying her heartbeat. Relief filled him when he saw it was beating at a normal rate again.

As he watched the nurses wipe away the sweat from Sakura's forehead and cover her with a blanket, Sasuke suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "We found him."

The worry he felt the last few minutes was instantly replaced by rage. Someone from his own ranks did this to Sakura. Someone he thought could be trusted poisoned his ex-wife. "Bring him down to the cellar and wait for me there.", Sasuke ordered.

As he left the patient's room and headed towards his bedroom, he went over all of his employees in his mind. Sasuke had all of them checked thoroughly before allowing them to work for him, yet one treacherous bastard seemed to have slipped through his net.

Sasuke came to a halt in front of his king size bed and let his gaze rest on the glass case directly behind it. In it there was the baseball bat Sakura had given him for their first wedding anniversary. He could still vividly remember the day they had spent in the stadium.

Sasuke had whisked her away on a surprised trip to New York to watch a match of his favourite baseball team. After they won, he lost Sakura somewhere in the cheering crowd. He was worried sick for a good 15 minutes, until she finally came back with a triumphant smile on her face and a bat in her hands, signed by every player of the New York Yankees. It was so precious to him that he had it encased in bullet proof glass as soon as they came back to Japan and swore to never touch it. Only twice did he break that promise.

The first time Sasuke took the bat was when he was about to confront Sakura at the airport. He thought threatening her with her anniversary gift would add nicely to the drama.

This evening was going to be the second time Sasuke took the bat. Because he was just about to smash the fucker's brains out who poisoned his ex-wife's dinner.

 _Heads will roll.  
_

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Hola mishamigos (I wonder how many of you will get that reference). Sorry for not updating the last few days. I had a ton of ideas about where to take this story and had to figure out which one I like best and take my time with writing it down, because I wanted to be 100% satisfied before uploading it. And I have to say I am satisfied. Hope you guys like it as well. I promise the updates will be coming in more frequently from now on, as I will be spending a week at my mum's place and it's suuuper boring there, so I'll probably spend most of my days glued to this baby here.

 ** _Post Post Scriptum:_** I'm not American, I have no idea about baseball. I just googled best American baseball teams and the Yankees were the first result so I just went with it. I hope I haven't insulted any die-hard *insert name of other baseball team here* fans, by making Sasu-chan a Yankee fan. If I did, remember: don't blame my un-American-ness, blame Google. :)

 _ **PPPS:**_ Special shout-out to sasusakusara7 for not leaving me hanging with that Supernatural reference, and generally for all of your motivating reviews. It seems I'm looking forward to reading your comments as much as you look forward to reading my chapters :D


	18. Capitulum XVII

**Capitulum XVII –** _ **Being a mob boss' girl can have its perks after all.**_

Rolling over in her bed, the noise of the machines beeping next to Sakura woke her up. As her eyes fluttered open, she took a deep breath. Every limb of her body felt leady. She knew this feeling. They sedated her again. Memories of last night flashed into her mind, as she recalled stumbling out of her guest house coughing up blood and collapsing on the porch. Someone poisoned her dinner, she remembered.

"It'll wear off in about an hour." Her head turned towards the source of the dark voice. "The sedative I mean." Sakura tiredly eyed her ex-husband, sitting in a chair next to her bed. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Given your calm demeanour I take it you already caught the bastard who did this and smashed his head in. Unless, of course, you don't give a flying fuck about your ex-wife being poisoned. In that case your lack of empathy would explain your composure." – "I would be lying if I said it was the latter." Sasuke's words surprised her. She halted in her efforts to sit up and looked at him with a mix of depletion and wonder. "But you're right. The traitor has been caught and dealt with." Sakura nodded knowingly.

Whenever Sasuke _dealt_ with someone, that person was never seen nor heard of again. One glance at his bruised knuckles revealed Sasuke probably beat the poor bastard to a pulp.

Sakura sighed and reached for the glass of water on the table next to her bed. Her motor skills were still a bit sloppy, but she managed to lift the glass to her lips and take a generous gulp. After setting it down again, Sakura leaned back and asked, "Any interesting intel you got out of him, anything I need to know?"

"Zetsu got to him. He offered him a generous sum of money if he managed to slip in some poison into your food, although he admitted killing you was not his goal. Zetsu supposedly told him that he didn't mind if you survive it. It would be enough for him to cause us a bit of distress, simply to let us know he could get under our skin."

Sakura couldn't help but snort. That sounded a lot like Zetsu. As much as he loved inflicting physical pain on others, he got off more on terrorising his victims on a mental level. Playing silly little mind games, controlling them like puppets, infusing them with ideas that would lead his victims to eventually destroy themselves. What Sakura couldn't quite understand though, was why he chose to poison her, not Sasuke.

As if reading her mind, Sasuke said, "I know what you're thinking. There's a reason he targeted you not me. The traitor admitted he was specifically instructed to poison your food not mine, because Zetsu apparently told him this would piss me off more, that he could provoke me by hurting you. It seems he is under the impression…. that I'm still in love with you." Sakura's eyes widened subtly as she looked at him. Sasuke's expression was stoic and emotionless as ever.

Images of him kissing her in his hotel suite flashed in her mind, the feel of his hands all over her body. As she felt a blush already creeping up her face, she couldn't help but ask. "Are you?"

His intense gaze still bore into her jade green eyes, but he said nothing. After a moment he propped himself up, gave her one last undefinable look and headed towards the exit. "You should get some rest.", Sasuke whispered before closing the doors behind him.

A soft smile spread across Sakura's lips. She decided to take his answer as a maybe. Sasuke had shown signs of jealousy, attraction, and even concern ever since she came back into his life. As much as he tried to deny it and hide it, she was sure Sasuke still had feelings for her.

After spending three years at his side, she never once witnessed him taking care of his so-called interrogations himself. He would usually send Kakashi to deal with traitors or get information out of people. But this time, it was Sasuke himself who intervened. Sakura couldn't help but think he did it out of revenge for her. And although any other rational, sane woman would run for the hills at the prospect of being with someone who basically kills people for a living, Sakura felt the butterflies in her stomach doing somersaults at the thought of Sasuke avenging her suffering.

 _Being a mob boss' girl can have its perks after all._

For the first time since their fight in Kyoto Sakura felt genuinely happy again. She had got to kiss her ex-husband, she survived an attempt on her life, plus she had more or less proof of Sasuke's affection. The only thing dampening her mood at the moment was her unruly hair, Sakura realised after catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Well, let's go find some scissors."

* * *

The smell of fresh herbs and the sound of her laughter filled the kitchen when Sasuke entered it.

He was told by her security detail that she had gone to cook something for herself half an hour ago. Given the excruciating pain she had gone through the last time she ate something that came out of this kitchen, Sasuke couldn't blame her for wanting to prepare her own meals from now on.

After what happened last night, Sasuke and Kakashi had checked the backgrounds of each of his employees on his estate once more. They had sat down with everyone working in the kitchen and had grilled them under heavy scrutiny. Sasuke had fired two more people that rubbed him the wrong way, but he was confident now that at least in the kitchen, there was no one he couldn't trust.

Leaning against the door frame, he let his gaze rest on her hair. She cut it, Sasuke deduced. It wasn't as ornery as before, but rather in the shape of a bob haircut. Sasuke found himself liking her new hairstyle. As he watched Sakura clumsily trying to cut the basil leaves with his chef giving her instruction, Sasuke had to keep himself from grinning. Sakura was an absolute mess in the kitchen. She couldn't for the life of her prepare a decent meal. In fact, her definition of a culinary success was a sandwich not completely burnt to a crisp.

"You know what Teuchi, I'm a hopeless cause. I will never learn this." Sakura rammed the knife point into the cutting board and leaned against the counter. "Don't you guys have some frozen pizza lying around somewhere?" Teuchi turned to her with his mouth agape and a look of shock on his face. "The day I start to stock frozen pizza in my kitchen will be the day the culinary world as we know it falls!", he proclaimed dramatically, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"That's true, I'm afraid. Teuchi would rather die before allowing convenience products to disgrace the sanctuary of his kitchen." , Sasuke threw in with a smirk. Sakura's head turned towards him in surprise. Before she could say anything, he raised his voice again, his face now turned towards his chef. "Would you mind leaving us for a moment, Teuchi?" The older man bowed in respect and left the kitchen.

"Something's wrong." Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked expectantly at Sasuke. After a moment of silence, he raised his voice.

"Our work has attracted a lot of attention. Primarily the death of Danzo Shimura. The clan heads and other leaders are still suspicious of you and demand a trial." As Sasuke studied her face, he saw Sakura's eyes widen ever so slowly.

"No." – "Yes. They called in the council of the Five." Sakura tore her gaze from his eyes and took a deep breath.

"The Five… Well it's not like I didn't see this coming. I knew I had to answer for everything eventually. I just didn't think it would come so soon." – "Well, proclaiming the resurrection of Madara Uchiha is a sure way to get the attention of Japan's criminal Supreme Court."

Running her hands through her short hair, she let her gaze wander through the kitchen. Sakura still didn't dare to look at him. So many things were running through both of their heads; unfinished plans, stifling worries, oppressive regrets.

Sakura's eyes finally met Sasuke's again when she spoke. "They're going to grill me." She watched him nod his head. "Their focus will be Madara. If you give them what they want, it might go smoothly." Sakura snorted as a grin spread across her lips. It didn't quite reach her eyes though, because Sakura was far from happy. "Things never go smoothly with the Five. They're going to want retribution for my betrayal and alliance with Madara." Sakura turned to face her ex-husband. Sasuke looked at her with cold eyes, his face a perfect mask.

She took a deep breath, before whispering, "We both know how it will end."

Sasuke lowered his eyes and kept quiet. Ever since he was informed of the council meeting, his mind was reeling at the thought of its possible outcome. But he was determined to not let it come to that. As he raised his head to meet Sakura's gaze, he could see genuine fear for the first time since their encounter in the airport lounge. Trying his best not to give in to the urge to comfort her, he cleared his throat before saying, "We fly tomorrow morning." With that Sasuke left her.

 _Nobody would hurt her, not on his watch._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Hello my lovelies! Hope you're having a wonderful day and hope you enjoyed reading the new chapter. My confinement begins as of today; I'm at my mum's now and I already can't wait to leave again. But there's a silver lining, I'm bored enough to be able to dedicate most of my free time to this baby here. Anyhow, please let me know what you think of it, I always love reading your uplifting reviews and comments. :)


	19. Capitulum XVIII

**Capitulum XVIII –** _ **Even the Yakuza have rules.**_

„Watch what you're saying in there. They'll easily twist your words and trick you into admitting things you don't even want to talk about. Don't let them force a confession out of you, especially concerning Madara."

As they made their way through the dark hallways of the estate, Sakura felt herself growing more nervous with each step she took. In a moment she would be faced with the five most powerful Yakuza bosses in all of Japan. They could crush her with their pinky fingers if she stepped out of line just once. There weren't a lot of things in this world Sakura was afraid of; she usually prided herself with a steely courage. But facing the council of the Five Kage was by far one of her worst fears. Because if you have to answer for your deeds in front of them, you know whatever shit you pulled was of catastrophic proportions.

Sakura took a deep breath and came to a halt. Trying her best to mimic Sasuke's signature aloof expression, she turned to the man standing next to her. "I know why I'm really here, Sasuke-kun. They don't want information about Madara. For all we know, they don't even believe that rumour. They just want to see me squirm in front of them as they decide how to punish me for what I've done."

She watched Sasuke's expression turn darker. "Don't say that. Two on the council are still fond of you, I'm sure they will take your side. Or at least be not as biased as the others. Plus, you never worked for Madara. Whatever you did, he forced your hand."

Sakura looked at him wide-eyed. That was the first time she heard Sasuke blame Madara for her actions, instead of blaming her. All this time she was trying to persuade him of that; trying to make him see that Madara made Sakura hurt him and that she never wanted any part of it. Hearing those words made it seem as if Sasuke was actually starting to believe her.

A small smile crept on Sakura's lips as her eyes met his. "Does that mean I have your trust again?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, when a harsh voice made both their heads turn towards it. "Haruno Sakura, the Five are waiting for you." She gave the guard a small nod and turned to face Sasuke again. His expression was again unreadable as he just stared into her eyes.

"See you on the other side, Sasuke-kun.", she whispered while faking a smile. But he could see right through it. Sasuke knew about the inner turmoil that was tearing Sakura up inside. Because he felt the same way.

* * *

"I never thought that Uchiha's innocent little cherry blossom would ever find herself on a trial. But there's a saying for it, isn't there: Still waters run deep. Isn't that so, _Haruno_?" The gruff voice of the Raikage filled the otherwise quiet room. Sakura didn't dare raise her eyes. Her gaze was instead fixated on the tatami mats she was kneeling on.

She knew each and every one of the Five Kage. They were notorious Yakuza bosses in their own right. But together, they formed the most powerful and most influential criminal syndicate in Asia, surpassing even the infamous reputation of the Chinese Triads. Each of them governed one of the five main islands of Japan, and every Yakuza member on each island was subject to their respective Kage. Even Sasuke had to answer to the Hokage of Honshu from time to time.

The council rarely got together; when there's a problem in Hokkaido only the Kazekage can deal with it, the other Kages would not interfere. But when all five are called in, shit just got serious.

The creaky voice of the eldest council member suddenly caught Sakura's attention. "Raikage, the time it takes for you to chew her out will bring me closer to death than I already am and I'm practically standing in the grave with one foot already. So let's cut the crap and get down to business, 'cause I sure as hell ain't getting any younger over here." Sakura had heard of the Tsuchikage's grumpiness, but his reputation in that matter definitely preceded him. "You're right, Onoki. If the rumours are to be believed, we shouldn't waste any time. Sakura, tell us everything you know about Madara."

Gaara's voice washed over her like a river of comfort. Amidst so much chaos and betrayal, surrounded by people she wasn't sure she could trust, Gaara had always been one of the few people she could count on, no matter what. She finally dared to raise her head and locked her eyes with his. Despite his indifferent expression, Sakura could spot a barely visible smile. She turned her head in search of shock of blonde hair and her eyes fell on the Hokage of Honshu.

The tales people told each other about the legendary Tsunade Senju made Sakura adore the woman during her childhood while growing up in Japan's criminal underworld. Little did she know she would actually get to know her during her marriage to Sasuke. Tsunade filled in the role of a mother Sakura never had and she knew she could trust the Hokage with her life.

Seeing the blonde give her a reassuring nod, Sakura opened her mouth – and told them everything.

How Madara had contacted her six years ago, how he had prepared her for the mission to infiltrate Sasuke's life, how he had fed her information to topple Sasuke's empire from within, how she had refused to do that. Sakura told them about the day she had betrayed Sasuke and turned her back on Madara and her mission; she told them about how she had managed to stay off the radar for two and a half years, about how he had found her again regardless. Sakura had to hold back the tears as she recounted the day she had found her brother dead and realised there was no escaping Madara Uchiha. She described the events of the last couple of weeks and finished with the assassination of Danzo Shimura and the intel they got from him.

As she let out a long breath, Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the silence that ensued to be broken by the Kage.

"Well… that is a gigantic load of bullshit."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and her gaze rested on the scowl that seemed to permanently grace the Raikage's face.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm the only one here who's old enough to have met Madara on more than one occasion and let me tell you, this is just the kind of fucked up masterplan that Uchiha Madara was so infamous for.", the Tsuchikage threw in pointing a finger at the Raikage. "Or rather, _is_ infamous for. If we are to believe Haruno's story, the bastard is alive and as much as I hate to admit it, that guy is no joke." The Mizukage crossed her arms in front of her chest and suspiciously eyed Sakura, who was still kneeling in front of them.

The Raikage's roaring voice filled the room once again. "Oh please, that Uchiha fucker is dead. That's just a silly imposter trying to get rid of Sasuke so he can take over control of Japan's capital."

"That's just it, though. Who in their right mind would impersonate Uchiha Madara? That name invokes fear even when people presume him dead. Moreover, if he really is an imposter, how does he know so much about the Uchiha, about Sasuke's business; how the hell did he know about the tracking chip, when not even we or the previous Kage knew about it? We cannot dismiss this issue so easily, Ay.", Tsunade claimed, glaring pointedly at the Raikage.

Sakura watched the five council members bicker between themselves about whether or not to believe her story. This is ridiculous, she thought to herself, instead of exerting their power to stop him, they would rather sit here and fight over whether or not Madara really was alive. Gathering all the courage she still had left inside her, Sakura yelled, "Stop this nonsense!" Five pairs of eyes immediately darted to her. She didn't allow their shocked and angry looks to intimidate her, and instead kept talking.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you believe that Madara Uchiha is still alive, that man is a threat to all of us. He will stop at nothing to kill Sasuke, and once he has control over Tokyo he will definitely work his way back to the top where he once was. And when he reaches his peak, he will control every city, every island – he will control all of Japan. When that happens, there won't be a place in the world where we can hide from him. Because that is what we will be doing for the rest of our lives, _hiding_. So why don't you stop bickering like little children and start living up to your reputations and end this bastard."

Although she was fearing the reaction of the Kage, Sakura definitely didn't show it. She bore her determined gaze into the angry eyes of the Raikage, who she knew was the hardest to convince.

"Why don't I kill you instead, huh? You got yourself in some deep shit three years ago and never got a punishment for it. And we can't have our people believing they can get away with everything just because no one ever got to _you_. Even the Yakuza have rules. Or better yet, I'll have both your _and_ Sasuke's head. He's been a thorn in my side ever since he attacked my brother once, might as well kill two birds with one stone." – "No!" Sakura was sure the look of determination that had graced her face mere seconds ago gave way to a pleading expression now. She had known the Raikage still had some unfinished business with Sasuke and that he would oppose Sakura simply because of her affiliation with him. But she would be damned if she let Sasuke go down for her mistakes.

Sakura put her hands on the tatami mat before her and placed her forehead on them, bowing in front of the Raikage. "Please spare Sasuke. I promise you I will do everything in my power to stop Uchiha Madara. Should I fail… you can have my life as retribution instead." Sakura heard the older man in front of her snort and could practically see the smug grin on his face. "What good is that to me? Sasuke was the one who insulted me; it's his head I want, not yours."

"This council values the old morals of the samurai, you still operate according to them. One of those morals states that the debt of one person can be repaid by another. And if that other person chooses to repay it with their life, you must honour their life and their decision by accepting it. I offer my life to repay mine, as well as Sasuke's debt, and if you honour the old samurai morals, you _must_ accept my offer."

An unnerving silence engulfed all of them. For a few moments after Sakura spoke, no one dared to raise their voice. Not even the Raikage said a word.

Sakura was praying silently that this would pay off. She knew that she was one of the most untrustworthy people in the eyes of the council and that it would take a miracle to make them believe Madara is alive and to let her off the hook, at least until they dealt with him. Sakura also knew that the Raikage was the most difficult one to crack. One disagreeing Kage would be enough to shatter her hopes, because all five of them must agree on the decision when voting on something. If the Raikage didn't believe Sakura, their plan of enlisting the council's help with defeating Madara would recede into the distance.

Sakura knew that the attempted assassination of Ay's brother was his weak spot; even more so given the fact that Sasuke got away with it more or less unscathed. Sakura hoped that by offering the retribution that was long overdue for Sasuke's mistake as well as her own betrayal, the Raikage would be pleased enough to at least consider helping them.

"Very well. If you're that keen on protecting that Uchiha bastard, so be it. I will relieve Sasuke of his debt to me and my brother if you keep your word and pay with your life in exchange for his. Should you fail in your efforts to bring down whoever this fucker is that's been messing with us, I _will_ come to collect your head."

Muttering a barely audible _Thank you_ Sakura straightened herself again. She had already feared it would come to this. She had a feeling that she would be forced to gamble with her life during this trial. The council was going to punish her for her betrayal and alliance with Madara anyway, so it wasn't as if Sakura was hoping for a happy ending. This way she would at least die honourably, making one final atonement for hurting Sasuke.

Tsunade's voice tore Sakura from her thoughts as she proclaimed, "It seems Haruno Sakura has nothing more to say, neither do the Kage. We shall now retire to discuss what you have brought before us. Once we make a decision, you will be called in again. I don't think I have to tell you not to leave the estate until then."

Sakura watched the five Kage stand up and head towards the door. As they passed her, she rose to her feet and turned around. Her gaze rested on the backs of the Kage leaving the room, until her eyes fell on Sasuke. She gave him the brightest smile she could muster after practically signing her death sentence a few seconds ago. Her head was turned to him only halfway and she thanked God in that moment that Sasuke couldn't see the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

Everything was going to be alright, she was trying to tell herself.

 _It will all be over soon._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Dun duun duuuuuuuun! I'm sure you guys guessed it already in the last chapter, but yeah the council of the Five is of course based on the five Kage. I couldn't give them land or countries to govern so instead I just gave them the five main islands of Japan. I updated chapters 12-15 because I had to change one tiny detail, namely Gaara's territory. It's no longer Kyoto, but Sapporo. I wanted to make Tsunade the Hokage of Honshu and Gaara the Kazekage of Hokkaido, and then I realised it doesn't make sense for Gaara who's the Kage of another island to be the boss of a city on Honshu, that is actually Tsunade's island. So I moved his territory to Sapporo but sldfjaöslkfjöwljf you get the drift. Also, I know the Raikage's name is A but that just sounded too weird for my liking, so I named him Ay instead. Just go with it, folks.

Anyway, hope you guys liked it. I put a great deal of effort into this chapter, for some reason it was more difficult to write than the others. So I would really appreciate your feedback :)


	20. Capitulum XIX

**Capitulum XIX –** _ **You deserve my everything.**_

Soon enough, Sasuke thought. They've been in there for a while now, they must come out soon.

He was nervously pacing around in front of the room where Sakura was currently being grilled by the Kage. Uchiha Sasuke prided himself in patience and composure, but knowing his ex-wife was standing trial in front of the five most dangerous Yakuza bosses made even him agitated.

The doors were suddenly swung open and Sasuke came to a halt. As the Kage headed in his direction, his eyes looked for Sakura. She smiled up at him, but Sasuke knew her too well. He immediately realised something was wrong with her. Tearing his gaze from his ex-wife he scanned his surroundings for a blonde haired woman. As his eyes fell on the Hokage he made his way towards her and waited for them to be at a safe distance from the other Kage.

Grabbing Tsunade's arm and turning her to face him, Sasuke asked, "What the fuck happened in there?" Clearly not surprised by his rudeness, the blonde looked at him with a haughty expression. "We played golf, what do you think happened? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get a drink before getting back to business again. God knows I deserve it." Tsunade pried away Sasuke's fingers from her arm and was just about to turn away, when his question made her stop. "What do you mean, getting back to business? I thought you made a decision." Rolling her eyes at him, Tsunade couldn't help but let out a sigh before looking at Sasuke with pure disinterest.

"Listen here, kiddo. This is politics and you can't interfere unless you're sitting at the grown-ups table. We'll get back together any minute now to discuss what Sakura told us and decide what steps need to be taken next. And _then_ we will call you in to tell you. Until then, you sit your ass back down and be patient, got it?"

"Did she tell you anything about that night?" Tsunade immediately knew he was referring to the night Sakura had left him. The subtle gleam of rage in Sasuke's otherwise emotionless eyes gave him away. She knew that even after three years of separation, Sakura was still his weak spot. Tsunade sighed in defeat before speaking.

"Look, you know I like Sakura. And against my better judgement, I don't think you're that bad either. But honestly, I'm getting sick and tired of watching you kids dance around each other. You should get that stick out of your ass and finally sit down with Sakura to deal with your shit. Because believe it or not, Uchiha, in my eyes she has more than proven her loyalty and love for you, especially after what she said in there. So why don't you-" – "Hold up… what _did_ she say in there that proved her loyalty?"

Tsunade huffed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Ah fuck it, you'll probably hear it from someone else anyway." Looking around to check if any of the Kage were in earshot, she whispered, "You know how the Raikage still hates your guts, because you tried to kill his brother once? He was just _not_ going to listen to her, but Sakura knew she had to convince all five of us so that we would help you take down Madara. She offered him a deal in hopes of softening him up so he might believe her after all. So when Ay threatened to kill her as well as you, Sakura offered her life instead. As a retribution for both your stunt with his brother as well as her betrayal three years ago."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he let Tsunade's words sink. _She offered her life in exchange for his._ Sakura was ready to die just so that Sasuke wouldn't have to pay a debt he owed the Raikage anyway. He never thought this mistake would come back to haunt him. And he never thought Sakura would be willing to pay for it just to protect him.

His eyes fell on the blonde woman in front of him when she raised her voice again. "Yeah, that's right. That's how much she loves you. And I would have to be the blindest fool on earth not to see that you're still in love with her. So get out of my face and go get her back, you fool." With that demand Tsunade turned on her heel and left behind an utterly speechless Sasuke.

* * *

He found her sitting on a porch, faced towards the garden of the estate and meditating. Sasuke approached her with careful steps and sat down right next to her. "You talked to Tsunade." Her hands were still folded together, and her eyes were still closed. Sakura didn't turn to him when she spoke, but Sasuke was intently staring at his ex-wife.

"I knew that smile you gave me was fake and I knew if I asked you, you would lie to me and tell me the meeting went fine when it clearly didn't. I had to hear from Tsunade what happened in there." – "What did she tell you?"

 _Sakura offered her life instead._ She told me everything, Sasuke was about to say. But he couldn't. As his eyes scanned the oh so familiar face of the woman he used to wake up to every morning for more than two years, it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.

He really _did_ still love her. Sasuke loved her even though she betrayed him. Sasuke loved her even though every functioning cell in his brain begged him not to. Sasuke loved her even though he tried his best to hate her, and he was damn good at hating people. And Sasuke loved her even though he was furious that she would trade her life for his. He loved her, he loved her, _he loved her_ and he would be damned if he let anything or anyone harm his wife.

"She told me about the deal you made with the Raikage." That made Sakura's eyes snap open and look at him. She seemed genuinely startled, like a little girl getting caught stealing candy. "Why the fuck would you do that?" Sasuke was clenching his fist now and was glaring at Sakura with fury in his eyes. Faking an apologetic smile as best as she could, she answered, "I needed to convince him somehow and I wasn't going to let him harm you when he threatened with it, so I just offered myself instead." – "You _just_ offered yourself instead? That makes it sound as if you don't even value your own life. But doesn't matter to you, does it. The value your life has for you or any other person. You don't give a shit about how _I_ would feel if he took you away from me, do you?"

Sasuke stood up and took a few steps towards the garden. Letting out a sigh and closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself. He could hear her move behind him as she stood up as well. "I didn't know you felt this strongly about the prospect of my death." Masking his rage with a more concerned expression, he turned to face her again. "I'm not a monster, Sakura. Thinking about my ex-wife getting killed would unsettle me even if I didn't have feelings for you."

As he watched her eyes widen and her cheeks blush, Sasuke realised what he had just said. But he didn't care anymore; he was tired of keeping his guard up around Sakura when all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and never let go. "So you… do have feelings for me?" A tentative smile spread across her lips as she looked at Sasuke with hopeful eyes. He took another step towards her so that they were mere centimetres apart. Sasuke's expression softened as he gazed into her jade green eyes. "Remember how you told me that you wouldn't take the next step with me before you have my trust again." Sakura nodded, her blush deepening as she drew closer.

"As much as it infuriated me that you would throw away your life so carelessly, I know you would have done it only for me. And that proves you not only deserve my trust. You deserve my everything." As Sasuke watched her lips spread into the most breathtaking of smiles, he cupped her cheeks and lowered his head. He pressed a soft kiss onto Sakura's lips and immediately felt her arms twine around his torso.

It wasn't as passionate and heated as the last time they had kissed. It was like a loving, delicate _welcome home_ after a long and tiresome journey abroad.

They separated ever so slowly when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. "The Five will see you now." Sasuke didn't heed the guard, his eyes were instead still fixated on the beautiful jade green orbs of Sakura, who looked up at him dreamily. He planted another gentle kiss on her forehead before they both turned around to follow the guard.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura, you stood trial in front of the council of the Five to answer for the crimes of your past. Namely, the betrayal of Yakuza member Uchiha Sasuke and your affiliation with-" – "Alright alright, skip that formal bullshit already. I told you, I'm practically decaying already over here. Can we get to the good stuff?"

The Tsuchikage glared daggers at the guard, who was reading Sakura's charges off a sheet of paper. The Mizukage sighed in exasperation and massaged her temples, before raising her voice.

"Taking under consideration everything you have told us about the man who contracted you, plus all the intel you gathered on him during the last couple of weeks, including the information Danzo had given you before his death, the council has come to the decision to heed your warning and take action against this man. Granted, everything _does_ point to the possibility that it really is Uchiha Madara, especially the audio file you gave us of your recent encounter with him and Zetsu. However, apart from a voice recording that eerily sounds like him, there is no concrete proof. So, we shall grant you our assistance in your fight against this individual, but we shall do so at our own discretion, until we can be 100% sure that we really are dealing Uchiha Madara."

As the Mizukage kept looking at Sasuke and Sakura with a haughty expression, the Hokage leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her face.

"As to the misdeeds of your past; you will not be tried for them for as long as it takes you to deal with this threat. But as soon as the dust settles again, we will have to take another look at that matter. However, depending on what part you play in bringing down this man we may just be able to drop one or two charges."

"Unless you don't manage to bring him down, that is.", the threatening voice of the Raikage made both their heads turn in his direction. Sakura could hear Sasuke's low growl next to her, but sighed in relief when nothing else came from him. After the council dismissed them, they both bowed their heads in respect and left the room.

The car ride back to the hotel suite Sasuke had booked for them was spent in silence; both of them lost in their own trail of thoughts. Sakura was glad the council believed her at least in so far that they were willing to assist their cause. Sasuke on the other hand was pissed that their assistance and the success of their plan was bound to Sakura's life.

As they entered the suite, Sakura immediately slipped out of her shoes and Sasuke made them both drinks. After taking a sip, they both sat on the couch and gazed into the night. "So what now?", Sakura asked. Sasuke emptied his glass, set it down on the table in front of them and cupped her cheeks.

"Now, I will make you mine once again.", he said in a husky voice before pressing his lips against hers.

 _For the first time in three years, Sasuke felt whole._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** Alrighty, I have to say I'm really satisfied with this, because it's a perfect transition to what's coming next, my favourite chapter - yes the next one will be a bit _different_ , let's leave it at that ;)

 _ **Post Post Scriptum:**_ I had a guest reviewer asking me to edit my previous chapters and not make Sasuke a playboy. I'm new to this whole fanfiction thing and for those of you who don't know, amantium irae is my very first story. So I don't know the rules and customs and whatever, but I'm pretty sure I should stick to my guns as an author. I like the way I've portrayed both Sasuke and Sakura and I will not be changing them, simply because one person can't handle Sasuke having consensual sex with other women apart from Sakura, and if you're reading this guest reviewer, you really are the only person who told me they had a problem with 'playboy' Sasuke.

Apart from requests like that, the rest of your reviews are all so uplifting and motivating. Thank you guys for your great support, it really means a lot to me. I would love to hear your opinion on this chapter, so a review or some constructive criticism is always appreciated. :)


	21. Capitulum XX

**Capitulum XX –** _ **This was how it was always supposed to be.**_

" _Whole bunch of crap if you ask me. That's just a few red dots. Some guy bleeds on a canvas and wants 2 million dollars for it. Boruto can paint better than that." Naruto scratched his head as he suspiciously eyed the painting in front of them. "I don't buy it for the artistic value, dope. God knows it doesn't have any. It's an investment. He's already had exhibitions in New York and Berlin. This painting is worth 2 million now, but it'll be worth five times as much when I sell it in a couple of years."_

 _The black haired man was just about to turn to another painting when they heard a voice behind them. "An estimated 12.6 million, to be exact. You would sell it for six times its current worth. That is, if you really are interested in buying."_ _His head turned to inspect the source of the intrusion._

 _The first thing that caught his eye were her bright red fuck me heels. As his eyes followed the lines of her tight black dress, he memorised every curve of her body, lingering for a second on her cleavage until his eyes fell on her face. Long wavy pink hair framed her angelic features and a pair of jade green eyes stared back at him._

 _That was when Sasuke first saw her._

 _She came to a halt in front of them and flashed him her greatest saleswoman smile. "Haruno Sakura. I'm the gallery's buyer and art consultant." His eyes fell on her slender hand that was expectantly stretched out to him. As his fingers encircled her warm palm, the left corner of his lips tugged into a subtle grin. Sasuke looked into her green eyes._

 _"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Haruno. My name is Uchiha Sasuke."_

 _But of course she knew that already._

* * *

A vase fell down and shattered on the floor as Sasuke pressed Sakura against the shelf. His mouth left a trail of kisses on her neck until he found her right breast and sucked on its nipple, making Sakura moan with pleasure.

Sasuke felt like every inch of his skin where she touched him was on fire.

Vaguely he felt her fingers on his belt buckle as she needily pressed herself closer to him. "Sasuke… I need-"

"I know, baby girl.", he muttered with his lips brushing against her nipple.

Sasuke lifted her off the cupboard and let her naked body slide down his chest until her feet hit the ground. As Sakura slowly went down on her knees, she left kisses all over his bare chest until her eyes fell on the bulge in his pants. She hastily undressed him and held him in her hands, before opening her mouth and taking him all in. Sasuke closed his eyes in pleasure and threw back his head with a groan.

"Oh fuck, Sakura."

* * *

" _You know, next time you hire a private investigator to follow someone around, tell him to be more discrete."_

 _Sakura grinned at him before taking a sip of her Bordeaux. Sasuke couldn't help but return her smile as he motioned the waiter to refill his glass._

 _"I'm surprised you noticed him. He's the stealthiest guy out there and he's usually very good at what he does." – "Well, it seems I'm better." She leaned forward and stared at him._

 _"I know why you have me surveilled." His smile vanished. "Do you now."_

 _Sasuke leaned back in his chair, observing the woman in front of him with an aloof expression. He watched her fingers trail the edge of her glass and her moist lips move as she spoke. "I know who you are, Sasuke. I know what you do. Word gets around when you're this infamous." A grin spread across his face at her words. "Yet here you are, having dinner with me and looking very comfortable at that. Doesn't it bother you, Sakura? Aren't you afraid?"_

 _She averted her gaze and focused on her wine instead. Avoiding his eyes, she swirled the glass on the table nervously. "Can't help it if I find you alluring," she muttered under her breath, making him chuckle. Sakura looked up again and stared into his eyes._

 _"I'm not afraid of you, Sasuke. You've been nothing but kind to me so far. And I'm not going to judge you by what you do for a living, because our jobs don't define us, our actions do. And your actions tell me you're someone I can trust. Someone who makes me feel safe. And I want you to feel the same with me. What I'm trying to say here is, I'm just a simple art consultant with a weakness for men with good taste. I'm not a threat to you, Sasuke." – "Let me be the judge of that," he muttered before downing his wine and putting the glass on the table._

 _Sasuke stood up from his seat and walked over to her. As he offered his hand and helped Sakura to get up, he whispered, "Enough talking. There's something I've been meaning to do for a very long time now." A blush spread across her cheeks as he pulled her closer to him._

 _"I've wanted you in my bed naked with nothing but those red stilettos on you ever since we first met." Sakura blushed deeply at that and stared up at him dreamily. He had already wrapped her around his finger, Sasuke mused proudly. He drew closer to her face and whispered against her lips, "You're going to give me what I want, aren't you, Sakura?"_

 _Her gaze fell on his lips as she nodded eagerly._ _"Yes, sir."_

 _Sasuke couldn't help but grin deviously._ _"Good girl."_

* * *

He broke their kiss and bent her over the kitchen table. One hand gripping her short tresses tightly, the other massaging her ass. Sakura had to bite her lip when his hand came into sudden sharp contact with her bare skin.

"What was that for?" Sasuke massaged the red spot he had just smacked. "You still haven't received any punishment for what you did. So I'm going to spank you now. The first one was just warm up." His hand came down on her ass with more force this time, making Sakura gasp. "That was for kissing Gaara at the gallery." – "That's not fair, he was the one who-" Another smack. Another gasp.

"Don't you dare talk back to me now. You're going to take your punishment and you're going to thank me for it, got it?" – "Yes." She could hear him growl behind her. His fingers tightened their hold on her hair as he asked, "Yes, what?" Sakura whimpered beneath him. With a quiet voice she added, "Yes, sir." Sasuke bent over and placed a soft kiss on her left shoulder. "Good girl."

The sound of another slap filled the suite as Sakura cried out. "That was for trying to seduce me in Sapporo and not giving me what I wanted." He raised his hand again and smacked her even harder this time. "That was for parading around naked in front of my business partners." Sakura moaned with pleasure and eagerly anticipated the next sting on her ass, until he slapped her again.

"That was for betraying me." Smack.

"That was for making me fall in love with you." Smack.

"That was for making me fall in love with you again." Smack. Silence.

His hand lingered on her bare skin. Only the sound of their ragged breath filled the suite for a moment. "What was the last one for?", Sakura whispered. She could hear his deep chuckle behind her. "That was simply because I love spanking you."

His fingers were still gripping her hair, pressing her face against the surface of the table. Sakura closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence for another second before raising her voice. "Thank you, sir." She could feel his grip loosen. "You're welcome, baby girl. Now get that sweet little ass of yours into bed. I'm far from done with you."

A smile spread across Sakura's lips. "Yes, sir."

* * *

" _I want you to move in with me."_

 _She stopped tracing patterns on his bare chest and raised her head to look up at him. They were sprawled on his king size bed naked, limbs tangled around each other. Her puzzled look was met with his soft expression._

 _"You know I have many enemies. People who would exploit the tiniest indication of a weakness to bring me down. I don't have many, but you're definitely my biggest weakness. You spend most of your time here anyway, but when you're gone I'm worried about you. I watch over you from a distance, but I can't guarantee your safety when you're not with me. Move in with me and let me take care of you."_

 _Sasuke raised his hand to her face and let his thumb brush against her lips. Sakura smiled up at him warmly, as she placed her hand on his cheek. "If only people knew how good you are. They would stop hating you."_

 _Sasuke gazed into her eyes. "I'm only good with you, baby girl." He brought her face closer to his and kissed her forehead softly. "Only you."_

 _Sakura sighed and let her head rest against his chest. As Sasuke's fingers played with her hair, she allowed his heartbeat to fill her ears._ _"Alright, I'll move in with you."_

 _She could feel him press a chaste kiss on her head before they both drifted to sleep._

* * *

Her hands gripped the sheets as his tongue came dangerously close to her wet core. A moan escaped her lips when Sasuke's thumb brushed against her most sensitive spot.

Sakura was a whimpering, writhing mess in his arms. He only had to look at her and she could practically feel her composure melt away. Just like it did in this moment as he pushed two fingers deep inside her. She threw her head back with a groan. Sakura was already close and Sasuke knew it, but he was torturing her with his slow pace.

"Sasuke-kun… please…I want to-" He sucked on her clit to shut her up. "I know, baby girl. But I won't let you. You only cum when I tell you to, is that clear?" All she could do was nod her head. She was in a pleasure filled haze and could barely think straight.

Sasuke removed his fingers and slapped her clit suddenly. "I asked you a question." Sakura whined at the abrupt feeling of emptiness and lifted her hips to meet his touch. She looked at him with pleading eyes and whispered, "Yes, sir." Sasuke smacked her clit again, drawing a sharp gasp from the pinkette beneath him before filling her up with his fingers again.

As he slowly worked her towards her climax with his mouth and hands, Sasuke could feel his own self-control slip away. For the first time in three years, he had her again – naked, squirming, begging him for more. And although he was going to take his time tormenting her, Sasuke knew he couldn't wait much longer to be inside her. He picked up his pace and sucked hard on her most sensitive bud until he could feel her convulse around his fingers.

Sasuke let his tongue swirl around her clit one last time before looking into her face. "I want you to cum now, baby girl. Cum for me, Sakura." And she did. With a loud cry she exploded around his fingers, digging her nails into the sheets and holding onto them for dear life as she felt her consciousness fading away.

Sasuke felt his cock throbbing at the sight of his woman shuddering with the pleasure he made her feel. "Good girl," he muttered, stroking her hair.

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

" _What's this?"_ _Sakura stared at the kimono that was displayed in front of her with utter confusion. Sasuke had offered to have a kimono custom made for her, so she could have something special to wear for the cherry blossom festival. Everything looked perfect, the colours, the stitching – everything was on point, safe for one tiny detail._

 _Sakura gently traced the symbol with her fingers before lowering her hand. "Sasuke-kun, I think there was some sort of mistake. They accidentally put the Uchiha crest on my-" As she turned around to look for him, he was already standing behind her._

 _"It wasn't a mistake, Sakura," he whispered, gazing into her jade green orbs. Sasuke watched her eyes widen and a blush creeping up her cheeks. "This kimono won't be the only thing you'll wear that has my family crest on it. I want the entire world to know that you belong to me."_

 _He pulled up a small black velvet box and opened it. Sakura's hand immediately went to her lips as she gasped in surprise. She could feel a tear roll down her cheek when her eyes were met with the sight of the most breathtaking ring she had ever seen._

 _"Haruno Sakura, will you marry me?" She didn't hesitate for a second when she whispered yes. More tears were shed when she watched her fiancé gently put on her engagement ring. Sasuke raised her left hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger as he lovingly gazed into Sakura's eyes._

 _She cried herself to sleep that night. They weren't tears of joy, but he would never know that._

* * *

The feeling of being inside her again was pure bliss. Sasuke had to concentrate on his breathing so as not to lose his self-control. He has waited too long for this, for her.

He looked into her face and watched her eyes widen as he pushed deeper into her. When he buried himself to the hilt, Sasuke couldn't help but let a growl escape his lips. He had almost forgotten how good she felt around him. Sasuke swore he would take this slow, but as he started moving inside Sakura all the frustration and lust of the last couple of weeks overcame him.

This woman beneath him drove him mad with anger and desire, but now she was finally at his mercy again. His gentle push turned into wild pounding as Sakura moaned his name. Her cries grew louder and louder with each of his thrusts. His hungry eyes roamed over her glistening body until he looked into her sultry gaze.

"Sasuke-kun… I want to hear you say it." With a groan he slowed down a bit. "You know it already." Sakura raised her hands and pulled him closer to her. "Please, I need to hear it." Her eyes were filled with a mix of pleasure and pleading.

His gaze softened a bit as he pressed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I love you, Sakura."

* * *

" _Is this how it all ends, then?" he roared. She spun around at the sound of his voice and Sasuke found himself looking down the barrel of her gun as he instinctively raised his own._ _She didn't seem surprised to see him. If anything, she was expecting him judging by her emotionless expression._

 _Someone had hacked into his system a few weeks ago and suddenly his competitors have magically started to take over parts of his business. Sasuke never thought it would be the woman he had married who would betray him like that. He tracked her down to a helipad and arrived there just in time before she would take off._

 _Sasuke stared at her with rage in his eyes before his gaze fell on the suitcase in her left hand. He knew what was in it. Intel about his businesses she was going to sell to the highest bidder. Just like she had been doing for the last couple of weeks behind his back, while pretending to be the loving and faithful wife in his bed._

 _"I have to admit, at first I had no idea who did this. But you're not as good as you think you are. We got you on camera handing over one of those shiny little suitcases to Hoshida, who just so happened to blow up one of my factories the next day. You got sloppy, Sakura." The woman in front of him didn't even blink at his accusations. Her cold eyes met Sasuke's furious ones as they both held each other at gun point._

 _"I didn't get sloppy, Sasuke. I wanted you to find out. You had no idea who betrayed you and got so paranoid you killed five of your employees. But they weren't the ones who did this to you as you suspected. I couldn't allow you to take more innocent lives so I let you catch me."_

 _"Bullshit! Don't you fucking dare pretend like you're some kind of saint. You don't give a shit about my employees, you don't give a shit about me. You're a lying, cheating, backstabbing bitch and I regret the day you waltzed into my fucking life." Sasuke roared furiously. He observed his wife's features intently, but her expression was still cold and aloof. Suddenly Sakura holstered her gun and instead raised a hand tuck a strand of her pink hair behind her ear. Sasuke had a clearer look at her face now and his eyes spotted a small smile spreading across her lips. "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun. But this is the only way."_

 _He realised she was about to leave and yelled, "Don't you dare take another fucking step. Don't think I'll just let you off the hook so easily. I'm going to put a fucking bullet in your brain."_

 _Her smile vanished and she looked at him with a sad expression instead. " You won't. You would have killed me already if you really could, but you can't bring yourself to pull the trigger, can you? Because you love me."_

 _"SHUT UP!"_

 _Sakura could feel the cold metal of his gun pressed against her forehead. Sasuke was livid. He searched her face for a reaction but he found nothing but sheer indifference. They stood there for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes before Sakura slowly took a step back. She turned around and headed towards the helicopter. Just as she grabbed a handle to pull herself in, she heard him yell behind her._

 _"If you ever set foot in Japan again, I will rip you to fucking shreds and throw what's left of you to Kakashi's hounds."_

 _Sakura could feel the helicopter lift off before she turned around to smile at her husband. "Goodbye, Sasuke-kun."_

 _She watched as his gun followed the helicopter. With a piercing roar he fired a bullet that missed Sakura by a few centimetres._

 _Sasuke could have killed her, he knew it. He swore he only missed because his hand was trembling._

 _When he came home that night, he found the divorce papers on his desk. They were signed by Uchiha Sakura._

* * *

"Favourite music genre?" She giggled next to him. "I definitely lied about that. I only said I liked Chopin because I knew you loved him. I'm actually a die-hard Led Zeppelin fan." Her answer made him snort. "Jesus Christ woman, is there anything you didn't lie about?" – "Yeah, a bunch of things. My favourite colour, for instance. It really is red." Sakura propped herself up on her arm to look at Sasuke.

They've been lying in bed for the last two hours asking each other questions about all kinds of things. Sasuke was aware that she lied to him in the past to get close to him. But he wanted to get to know the real Sakura now. As her fingers were busy playing with his hair and his hand was trailing up and down her spine Sasuke was thinking of other things to ask her.

"You told me once that everything you did in the past, you did it to protect me. I get that you didn't betray me for Madara, because you didn't want his plan to succeed in the end. What I don't get is the part where your betrayal was supposed to protect me." Her fingers stopped playing with his hair. Sakura's playful smile vanished from her lips and she looked at him with a serious expression.

"We had known each other for three years at that point and Madara was getting impatient, because I still hadn't given him anything. He was watching my every move, it had to look like I really was about to betray you. So I hacked your system, but didn't give him what he really wanted. I sold the intel to your competitors, because that would have forced Madara into a stalemate.

"If he had enough resources to bring you down back then he would have immediately come out of the shadows. But I knew if I sold the intel to someone else, he wouldn't be able to get to it without revealing he was still alive. And I knew back then the state of his plan was delicate and depended on everyone believing he was dead. I hoped I could give you some more peace and quiet from Madara by forcing him to stay in the shadows with his hands still bound. My idea worked, he didn't make a move to acquire any of that intel, remained undetected for another three years and was none the wiser about any of your dealings, which in turn prevented him from making a move against you."

Sasuke sighed and let her words sink in. His thoughtful gaze rested on the ceiling of the bedroom as his hand mindlessly kept tracing invisible patterns on Sakura's bare back. His ex-wife was not only brilliant in bed, she was a brilliant tactician as well, he had to give her that.

Going over her revelation in his head again, Sasuke deduced her story added up. Six years ago, Madara would have been a weakling in Japan's criminal underworld. With no power, no influence and barely any partners except Zetsu, there was nothing he alone could have done to bring down Sasuke, nor to get his hands on the intel Sakura sold without alerting anyone to his very much alive presence. It seemed keeping his secret was more important to him back then than making a move against Sasuke.

"If it makes you feel any better, I sold the intel to your less threatening competitors, knowing they wouldn't be able to keep what they took for very long. I knew you would eventually take back your companies from them." Sasuke turned his head to look at the woman in his arms. There was something akin to remorse in the way she grinned up at him.

He raised his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Betrayal for protection, huh? That's irony on a Shakespearean level." She leaned into his touch and sighed.

They enjoyed the silence for a moment, simply looking at each other until a mischievous grin tugged on Sakura's lips. "Now it's my turn again. Can I ask you something?" Sasuke had to groan, but couldn't prevent the smile that was forming on his lips as well. "Judging by that look on your face, it's something silly." She giggled as she playfully slapped his chest.

Resting her head in her hand, Sakura smiled at Sasuke, before asking, "Why did you keep the bat?" Her ex-husband raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows and snorted. "I love the Yankees more than I hated you." – "Bullshit," she laughed. "There's got to be a reason you held on to your beloved ex-wife's first wedding anniversary gift." Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes.

Frankly, the bat was something that had bothered him more than he cared to admit. After their divorce, he had burned all of her stuff and everything else that reminded him of her. But he couldn't let go of that baseball bat. Sasuke opened his eyes to look at the woman who gave it to him.

"To be honest, at first I didn't really know why I kept it. For whatever reason, I just couldn't bring myself to let go of it. The dope said it's because people always keep at least one item of their ex partners; helps them deal with the breakup, that kind of bullshit. I guess I kept the bat because it's the only thing I associate with both you and pain. In the end, I decided it should be a reminder. That love can hurt just as much as a strike to the balls with a baseball bat."

Sakura had to laugh at his words. She looked at him puzzled and asked, "How the hell do you know what a baseball bat to the balls feels like?" A deep scowl graced Sasuke's face and he sighed, before muttering, "A lot of things happened at Naruto's bachelor party that I never want to talk about."

Sakura threw her head back in laughter and Sasuke could only stare at her.

This was how it was always supposed to be. The two of them lying in bed together, Sakura laughing at Naruto's antics and Sasuke admiring her.

 _They were finally back where they belonged – in each other's arms._

* * *

 ** _Post Scriptum:_** I'm back bitches. Very happy but very sorry at the same time. I had a shitload of things to do the last couple of weeks. Uni is about to start again, there's this giant exam next Thursday that I've been cramming for, plus writing smut is so much harder than expected. I've rewritten this thing about a hundred times. It's not as smutty as I wanted it to be but this was my very first try so I left out a few things on purpose, because I was afraid they would suck.

Anyway, sorry again for the delay. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up my original updating intervals. I started this whole thing during the summer holidays with a shitload of freetime on my hands, but soon I'll be back at uni. I'll try to update weekly, though.

Soooo, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please please please leave a review and tell me what you think about it (sasusakusara7 I'm looking at you, baby girl). I would immensly appreciate it, because it was my first try at writing smut and I'm super self-conscious about this. Alrighty then, pax de kiddos. :)


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